COLORATION 93 



level ; that is, from practically the level of the hunter, who 

 in a stalk is usually crouching or creeping, so that he sees 

 the game with level glance at a distance, and looking up 

 when near by. But the immense majority of small mam- 

 mals and small birds are far more often seen by their foes 

 from above than from below; and from above the effect of 

 the countershading is at a minimum and is usually nil. 

 Mr. Thayer, when he observes birds or squirrels, naturally, 

 like other observers, looks up more often than down; and 

 unconsciously he ascribes to beasts and birds of prey this 

 up-looker attitude. But most birds of prey have habit- 

 ually the down-looker attitude toward both the birds and 

 mammals on which they prey, and most beasts of prey have 

 the down-looker attitude as regards the majority of the 

 mammals on which they prey. Mice and shrews make up 

 the immense majority of mammals, considered as indi- 

 viduals, not as species. Almost all their foes look down on 

 these small mammals from above. Hawks, owls, shrikes, 

 crows, foxes, bears, skunks, coyotes, cannot look up at 

 mice. They look down on them. Weasels follow them 

 purely by scent; and when they do see them it is always 

 from above or on a level, and usually from a little above. 

 Rabbits are looked down at, not up at, by eagles, big owls, 

 big hawks, wolves, cougars, and lynxes; foxes generally 

 look at them from a level or from above; weasels look up at 

 them, but, as a matter of fact, practically always hunt them 

 by scent. Comparatively few species of birds, when adult, 

 have mammals or reptiles as their chief foes. The great 

 majority of adult birds have to fear primarily other birds 

 — eagles, hawks, and owls. These birds of prey usually 

 approach them from above, frequently from one side, 



