250 EXTRACTS FROM NOTE-BOOKS. CH. XXXV. 



forms a tout ensemble of an indistinct gray colour, 

 which is most difficult to distinguish from a gray 

 stone or rock ; indeed, at a certain distance this 

 kind of gray becomes almost invisible. I have 

 tried many shades of colour, but never found any- 

 thing so suited to purposes of concealment as the 

 common small-sized black and white check. 



Dressed in this kind of stuff, and sitting motion- 

 less against a rock, I have seen a roebuck, or even 

 a red-deer, approach within a few yards of me 

 without the least suspicion, although I was other- 

 wise entirely unconcealed. 



I am inclined to think that wild animals and 

 birds judge by the outline far more than by the 

 colour of any object, and immediately detect any 

 change in the shape of an accustomed rock or bush ; 

 and hence it is so difficult to look over your place 

 of ambush without being immediately discovered. 

 Variations of colour alarm them much less, because 

 all objects are perpetually changing their colour, 

 according as they are wet or dry, in sunshine or 

 in shade. In wild-fowl shooting I have often 

 observed that when placed even in front of a bush 

 I am not seen by the birds in the evening, but 

 that, however dark it may be, they take alarm if I 

 show the smallest part of my cap above the bush. 



A Highland shepherd leads, or ought to lead, a 



