INTRODUCTION. 15 



A great deal has been written about the protective 

 colours of birds ; and in many of our feathered friends 

 this is most remarkable. For instance, it is often almost 

 impossible to discern shore birds like the Ringed Plover 

 and Dunlin, until, startled by our approach, they take 

 wing, soon settling down again to become as invisible 

 as before. 



The Ptarmigan and the Snow Bunting inhabit the 

 Arctic regions in the summer; but the Ptarmigan is 

 white in winter, and the Snow Bunting is white in 

 summer. Now, why is this ? The Ptarmigan remaining 

 in far northern regions " so closely resembles surround- 

 ing objects that a traveller may often wander through a 

 flock without knowing it ; " but the Snow Bunting, 

 coming south to winter, exchanges its snowy plumage 

 for a brown or tawny hue, which is its great safeguard 

 when straying along the sandy shore or country roads 

 of the United Kingdom. 



This interesting subject has been very fully and very 

 ably discussed by Mr. Charles Dixon, in his suggestive 

 work, Rural Bird Life, and also in his Introduction to 

 Vol. II of Mr. Seebohm's British Birds. In this latter 

 work he devotes his attention mainly to the protective 

 colour of eggs. I feel sure that my readers will be 

 interested by a brief summary of the results at which 

 he has arrived. He divides this peculiar instinct into 

 six divisions. 



Firstly, Colour. Example : The Pheasant. When 

 the female is obliged to leave the nest for food, she 

 covers her eggs with pieces of vegetation strictly 

 harmonizing with the colour of the herbage around. 



Secondly, Mimicry. Example : The Chaffinch. She 



