COLORATION 103 



escape his notice unless at a distance that renders it im- 

 material whether he sees them or not; he trusts mostly to 

 his sense of smell; he ordinarily hunts at night, and is most 

 successful on dark nights, when the coloration is of little 

 consequence; and when near enough to be dangerous, 

 whether by day or night, he sees so clearly that the color 

 of the quarry is a negligible factor — an eland or a roan is 

 evidently seen as clearly as a sable, a wildebeest, or a zebra. 

 Hartebeests in the aggregate far outnumber oryxes, yet 

 relatively to oryxes they are conspicuous, and their habits 

 are identical so far as escape from their foes is concerned. 

 Evidently the advertising color of the hartebeest's coat has 

 not been of the slightest disadvantage to him in the struggle 

 for life. As is the case with all other plains game, his 

 habits are such that his coloration is from this standpoint 

 of no consequence. The hartebeests in a state of nature 

 are probably the most successful and widely distributed of 

 all African animals of their size, yet they are not conceal- 

 ingly colored and carry no recognition marks. 



The ostrich offers a very instructive case in point. The 

 black and white cock ostrich is, except the elephant, and 

 possibly the giraffe and rhino, the most conspicuous creature 

 of the plains. The soberly colored hen cannot be seen at 

 all at a distance when the cock is already plainly visible. 

 She may fairly be said to be concealingly colored. He is a 

 striking example of advertising coloration. But both have 

 precisely the same habits. Save when brooding — and both 

 brood alternately — the great birds never seek to escape 

 observation, never do escape observation, and trust for 

 safety solely to their wariness, their eyesight, and their 

 speed. The nest is placed on the bare sand, usually with 



