PROTECTIVE COLORATION 515 



ment so sweepingly made is entirely incorrect. As I have already 

 shown, there are great numbers ot" aninials to which it cannot apply ; 

 and some of the very animals which do escape observation in com- 

 plete fashion are coloured utterly differently when compared one 

 with the other, althoui^h their habitats are the same. The intricate 

 pattern of the leopard, and the uniform, simple pattern of the 

 cougar, seem etjually eHicient under precisely similar conditions; 

 and so do all the intermediate patterns when the general tint is 

 neutral ; and even the strikingly-coloured melanistic forms of these 

 creatures seem as well fed and successful as the others. Mono- 

 coloured ct)Ugars and spotted jaguars, black leopards and spotted 

 leopards, and other cats of all tints and shades, broken or unbroken, 

 are frequently found in the same forests, dwelling under precisely 

 similar conditions, and all ec[ually successful in eluding observation 

 and in catching their jirey. 



One of the most extreme, and most unwarrantable, of the 

 positions taken by the ultra-advocates of the protective-coloration 

 theory is that in reference to certain boldly-marked black and 

 white animals, like skunks and Colobus monkeys, whose coloration 

 patterns they assert to be obliterative. In skunks, the coloration 

 is certainly not protective in any way against foes, as every human 

 being must know if he has ever come across skunks by night or by 

 day in the wilderness ; their coloration advertises their j)resence to 

 all other creatures which n)ight prey on them. In all probability, 

 moreover, it is not of the slightest use in helping them obtain the 

 little beasts on which they themselves prey. IVIr. Thayer's "sky- 

 pattern '' theory about skunks cannot apply, for bears, which are 

 equally good mousers and insect-grubbers, have no white on them, 

 nor have (ishers, weasels, raccoons, or foxes ; and in any event the 

 "sky-pattern" would not as oiten obliterate the skunk from the 

 view^ of its prey as it would advertise it to its prey. It is to the 

 last degree unlikely that any mouse or insect is ever more easily 

 caught because of the white "sky-pattern" on the skunk; and it 

 is absolutely certain that any of these little creatures that trust to 

 their eyes at all must have their vision readily attracted by the 

 skunk's bold coloration; and the skunk's method of hunting is 

 incompatible with deriving benefit from its coloration. Besides, it 

 usually hunts at night, and at night the white " sky-pattern " is 

 not a sky-pattern at all, but is exceedingly conspicuous, serving as 

 an advertisement. 



The big black and white Colobus monkey has been adduced as 

 an instance of the " concealing " cjuality of bold and conspicuous 

 coloration patterns. Of course, as I have said before, there is no 

 conceivable pattern which may not, under some wholly exceptional 

 circumstances, be of use from the protective standpoint ; a soldier 

 in a black frock-coat and top-hat, with white duck trousers, might 



