COLORATION 117 



ble. It would be as invisible in the homes of the tiger and 

 leopard as it is in the home of the jaguar. The black 

 leopards and jaguars really are as invisible in their homes 

 as are their spotted kinsfolk. The conclusion seems inev- 

 itable that no one of the coloration patterns, that of lion, 

 tiger, cougar, cheetah, leopard, or jaguar, has any survival 

 value as a factor in the life-history of the animal; it cannot 

 have been produced by natural selection working for con- 

 cealing coloration. We believe that the same conclusion 

 applies to the ounce, lynx, ocelot, clouded tiger, jaguarondi, 

 eyra, wildcat, and all the other spotted, mottled, and uni- 

 colored cats, big and little. It is greatly to be wished that 

 some trained scientific observer and investigator would 

 study the cat family — and for the matter of that, such dis- 

 tinctively colored groups as the tragelaphs and the deer — 

 along the lines laid down by Witmer Stone in his pamphlet 

 on the "Phylogenetic Value of Color Characters in Birds," 

 elsewhere referred to. 



The giraffe, because of its size and shape, is always 

 recognizable at such a distance that its coloration is of no 

 consequence; the reticulated giraffe has a bright-reddish 

 coat of a highly advertising quality; but this does not hurt 

 it any more than does the common giraffe's less conspic- 

 uous — but, when close, conspicuous — coat. The coloration 

 is a negligible factor. If among trees, in the flood of the 

 African sunlight, the giraffe may escape the notice of an 

 ordinary native or white man; but it practically never es- 

 capes the notice of the trained eyes of the native hunting 

 tribes. Good observers have expressed their surprise at 

 its being difficult to see. Our experience was that on the 

 average It was seen at a longer distance than any animal 



