( liii ) 



highly ornamented males of certain butterflies place them- 

 selves in courtship is that at which their brilliant colours are 

 rendered most conspicuous to the eyes of the females, and it 

 is easily conceivable that the same power exercised in an 

 opposite direction may be deceptive to the eye of an insecti- 

 vorous bird. I think it would not be difBcult to find instances 

 where the markings of animals and birds have somewhat the 

 same protective effect. 



I was much struck with the observation of a friend who 

 described to me the habits of a family of wild badgers which 

 he had watched coming out of their holes to feed after dark. 

 He observed that when the badger turned its head sideways 

 to look in his direction, the white marks at the sides of the 

 head were at once conspicuous and attracted immediate 

 attention, but that when its suspicions were aroused the 

 head was immediately turned away, and the outline of the 

 animal in the dusk of evening was lost to the eye as it moved 

 slowly and noiselessly away. His impression was that it 

 would have been far more easily followed if the eye had not 

 been tempted to continue the search for the more conspicuous 

 though smaller object. 



I could name many instances in which the colouring on 

 the under sides of the wings and breasts of birds, especially 

 of wildfowl, undoubtedly gives them an advantage in being 

 able to render themselves suddenly inconspicuous against the 

 background of a clear sky. In the wintry weather we have 

 had of late, I have seen teal and widgeon disturbed by a 

 sudden shot or pursued by a falcon. In such cases they 

 instantly alter the angle of their flight, throwing themselves 

 sideways in such a manner that the pale under colour pro- 

 tects them from view in their rapid movements as it is 

 suddenly and frequently displayed against the white snow- 

 clouds. 



An especially interesting line of enquiry as connected with 

 the use and value of colour in insects is that which has been 

 followed up in Mr. Tutt's series of papers in the 'Entomolo- 

 gist's Kecord.' The special object of these papers appears to 

 be a discussion of the causes which tend to produce melanism 

 and melanochroisra in our British Lepidoptera, and, so far as 



