COLORATION 131 



speed, the keenness of their senses, and the formidable 

 nature of their weapons. This also applies to the coyote, 

 although this small wolf does not show such advertising 

 color phases as its big brother. If we had only the coyote 

 to consider, indeed, we might be tempted to think of its 

 coloration as possibly due to the survival value of its vari- 

 ous coloration phases to the extent that natural selection 

 may have defined the wide limits within which other forces 

 can develop the various tints and patterns; but having in 

 view the big wolf, with its white and black color phases, it 

 is doubtful whether it would be correct to assign even this 

 small role to concealing coloration working through natural 

 selection. The coyote is one of the very few mammals 

 which it is possible that the countershading may in rare 

 instances help very slightly toward concealment; but it cer- 

 tainly is not a factor of survival value. The black-backed 

 jackal, when compared with the common jackal, also shows 

 that even an advertising coloration is of no detriment to a 

 beast with its habits. 



The foregoing remarks are based largely on a somewhat 

 extended series of observations, in their native haunts, of 

 the following big game and carnivores: 



North America 



Cougar. White goat. 



Lynx. Prongbuck. 



Wolf. Moose. 



Coyote. Caribou. 



Red fox. Wapiti. 



Gray fox. White-tail deer. 



Grizzly bear. Rocky Mountain blacktail. 



Black bear. Coast blacktail. 



Bison. Peccary. 



Bighorn. 



