502 Allen, The Concealing Coloration Question. [oct. 



such translation is necessary. But that is not the way to pursue 

 studies in concealing coloration. We must cultivate the artist's 

 power of seeing only what appears on the surface, if we would see 

 things as the wild creatures see them. 



Another tendency that must be guarded against is that of con- 

 fusing brightness of color with conspicuousness. It is natural, of 

 course, to suppose that a brightly colored bird would be conspicu- 

 ous, but brightness is by no means synonymous with conspicuous- 

 ness. There is danger of regarding a bird as conspicuous simply 

 because its colors are unusual and pleasing to the human eye. 

 The real question is whether the bird itself is particularly easily 

 seen in the landscape, and recognized as a bird, by a creature which 

 is merely looking for any bird to eat and is not concerned either 

 to wonder at and admire its beauty or to identify it as belonging 

 to a particular species. Of this confusion between unusualness and 

 conspicuousness I have already noted a flagrant case in connection 

 with the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, whose tail Roosevelt called con- 

 spicuous in shape. Another very common instance is that of the 

 Blue Jay in a snowy landscape. This bird never looks more 

 beautiful, I think, than against a background of snow, which sets 

 off his blue plumage to perfection. Deceived by his beauty, we 

 are prone to call him a very conspicuous bird, but careful observa- 

 tion will convince any one that he is really not a bit more conspicu- 

 ous on an even expanse of unshaded or wholly shaded snow than 

 any other dark-colored bird of about the same size, a Robin for 

 instance, while, seen among tree-shadows on the snow, he is actually 

 inconspicuous, as I have noticed on several occasions. The blue 

 of his plumage when lighted by the sun matches the blue of the 

 shadows almost exactly. This is one of the points upon which 

 Mr. Thayer has been most sharply attacked, but any one can prove 

 to himself the relative inconspicuousness of the Blue Jay against 

 snow in the woods if he will try a few experiments and do a little 

 real observation. Take notice, however, that I am merely stating 

 a fact, not drawing any inferences. Whether the fact that the 

 Blue Jay is concealingly colored for winter in a wooded region 

 where snow abounds has any particular significance — whether the 

 coloring has any real protective function other than a purely 

 incidental one — is another matter entirely, and one which I shall 

 not go into at present. 



