WAYS OF NATURE 



would be set down as a clear case of mimicry. There 

 is such a moth in England, too, where no humming 

 bird is found. Why should not Nature repeat herself 

 in this way ? This moth feeds upon the nectar of 

 flowers like the hummingbird, and why should it 

 not have the hummingbird s form and manner ? 



Then there are accidental resemblances in nature, 

 such as the often-seen resemblance of knots of trees 

 and of vegetables to the human form, and of a cer 

 tain fungus to a part of man s anatomy. We have a 

 fly that resembles a honey-bee. In my bee-hunting 

 days I used to call it the &quot;mock honey-bee.&quot; It 

 would come up the wind on the scent of my bee box 

 and hum about it precisely like a real bee. Of course 

 it was here before the honey-bee, and has been 

 evolved quite independently of it. It feeds upon the 

 pollen and nectar of flowers like the true bee, and is, 

 therefore, of similar form and color. The honey-bee 

 has its enemies; the toads and tree-frogs feed upon 

 it, and the kingbird captures the slow drone. 



When an edible butterfly mimics an inedible or 

 noxious one, as is frequently the case in the tropics, 

 the mimicker is no doubt the gainer. 



It makes a big difference whether the mimicker 

 is seeking to escape from an enemy, or seeking to 

 deceive its prey. I fail to see how, in the latter case, 

 any disguise of form or color could be brought about. 



Our shrike, at times, murders little birds and eats 

 out their brains, and it has not the form, or the 

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