50 WILD LIFE OF SCOTLAND 



for themselves. Were another great auk, whose 



O ' 



extinction is so universally deplored, to be found 

 sitting gravely on its one egg, there would be such 

 an ugly rush as this planet had never witnessed 

 before, and, it would go hard if the savants were 

 not to the front. 



Very mild and seductive the moor looks in the 

 spring morning. A fresh breeze is blowing, and 

 light shadows are pursuing the gleams of sunshine 

 in a love chase. 



Rabbits scud about in every direction. Those 

 sandy-coloured children of the sand, instead of 

 livening up the scene; by their silent movements and 

 sudden disappearance, as if swallowed up by the 

 ground, only make the solitude more appreciable. 

 A single glance at the creatures, against the back- 

 ground, or environment, shows that they are pro- 

 tectively coloured. The assimilation is almost 

 perfect. There is only one defect. The white 

 tail becomes so conspicuous, when they are running 

 away and they generally are as to challenge 

 the attention of the most unobservant. Failing to 

 understand why a harmony, otherwise so perfect, 

 should be disturbed in this way, Mr. Darwin wrote 

 to Dr. A. R. Wallace for an explanation. The 

 latter suggested that, being mainly twilight feeders, 



