90 AFRICAN GAME ANIMALS 



beest, however, although countershaded, as is the harte- 

 beest, is so much darker than the topi that it is more 

 conspicuous. The three animals have substantially the 

 same habits. They never try to hide; they are always in 

 the open; when they approach a pool they are always in 

 motion. The countershading of one and the inverse counter- 

 shading of another make not the slightest difference; neither 

 does the lesser or greater degree of conspicuousness. Their 

 habits are such, and the habits of their foes are such, that 

 the particular quality of their coloration has no effect what- 

 ever of survival value. 



All these instances tend to show that the non-counter- 

 shaded beasts are in no way hurt by the absence of coun- 

 tershading. In the great majority of cases countershading 

 is certainly not a factor of survival value. It is of service 

 only (if at all) when the difference in tint above from below 

 is small, and the general color in strict harmony with the 

 surroundings. If the color is not thus in harmony, the 

 countershading has no effect whatever. A wildebeest is 

 countershaded, a bear is not; but each can be seen, if on an 

 open plain, a mile or two off, because the dark color is so 

 conspicuous that the question of countershading is of no 

 consequence one way or another. Innumerable familiar 

 birds — grackles, cow-buntings, red-winged blackbirds, crows, 

 red-headed woodpeckers, etc. — bear witness to the same 

 fact. 



Rabbits when motionless are either crouched flat, or 

 else with the fore parts raised, but always with the hind 

 parts pressed against the ground. Seen from the side, there 

 is a slight, a very slight, countershading effect, at this, the 

 only time when the rabbit's coloration conceals it at all; 



