in PROTECTIVE RESEMBLANCES AMONG ANIMALS 39 



Special Modifications of Colawr 



The conformity of tint which has been so far shown to 

 exist between animals and their habitations is of a somewhat 

 general character; we will now consider the cases of more 

 special adaptation. If the lion is enabled by his sandy 

 colour readily to conceal himself by merely crouching down 

 upon the desert, how, it may be asked, do the elegant markings 

 of the tiger, the jaguar, and the other large cats, agree 

 with this theory ? We reply that these are generally cases 

 of more or less special adaptation. The tiger is a jungle 

 animal, and hides himself among tufts of grass or of bamboos, 

 and in these positions the vertical stripes with which his 

 body is adorned must so assimilate with the vertical stems of 

 the bamboo as to assist greatly in concealing him from his 

 approaching prey. 1 How remarkable it is that besides the 

 lion and tiger, almost all the other large cats are arboreal in 

 their habits, and almost all have ocellated or spotted skins, 

 which must certainly tend to blend them with the background 

 of foliage ; while the one exception, the puma, has an ashy 

 .brown uniform fur, and has the habit of clinging so closely 

 to a limb of a tree while waiting for his prey to pass beneath 

 as to be hardly distinguishable from the bark. 



Among birds, the ptarmigan, already mentioned, must be 

 considered a remarkable case of special adaptation. Another 

 is a South American goatsucker (Caprimulgus rupestris), which 

 rests in the bright sunshine on little bare rocky islets in the 

 Upper Kio Negro, where its unusually light colours so closely 

 resemble those of the rock and sand that it can scarcely be 

 detected till trodden upon. 



The Duke of Argyll, in his Eeign of Law, has pointed out 

 the admirable adaptation of the colours of the woodcock to 

 its protection. The various browns and yellows and pale 

 ash-colour that occur in fallen leaves are all reproduced in its 

 plumage, so that when, according to its habit, it rests upon 

 the ground under trees, it is almost impossible to detect it. 

 In snipes the colours are modified so as to be equally in 

 harmony with the prevalent forms and colours of marshy 

 vegetation. Mr. J. M. Lester, in a paper read before the 



1 This suggestion has been since confirmed. See Darwinism, p. 199. 



