230 LEAVES FROM THE 



its colour, that the bird or insect fearlessly approaches 

 and is caught. Place, as a familiar example, a toad in 

 a melon-bed — a plan frequently adopted if the bed be 

 infested with emmets. These insects approach the mo- 

 tionless toad, whose hue corresponds with the colour of 

 the earth of the bed, without suspicion, and are taken 

 by the tongue of the reptile with a motion too quick for 

 the eye to follow. All that can be seen is the approach 

 of the emmet within a certain distance — within, in fact, 

 tongue-shot, and its there vanishing. The mechanism 

 of this apparatus, by means of which the toad takes its 

 prey, will be noticed hereafter. 



Throughout the animal creation, the adaptation of the 

 colour of the creature to its haunts is worthy of admira- 

 tion, as tending to its preservation. The colours of in- 

 sects, and of a multitude of the smaller animals, contri- 

 bute to their concealment. Caterpillars which feed on 

 leaves are generally either green, or have a large propor- 

 tion of that hue in the colour of their coats. As long as 

 they remain still, how difficult it is to distinguish a grass- 

 hopper or young locust from the herbage or leaf on which 

 it rests. The butterflies that flit about among flowers 

 are coloured like them. The small birds which frequent 

 hedges have backs of a greenish or brownish-green hue, 

 and their bellies are generally whitish, or light-coloured, 

 so as to harmonize with the sky. Thus they become less 

 visible to the hawk or cat that passes above or below 

 them. The wayfarer across the fields almost treads upon 

 the skylark before he sees it rise warbling to heaven's 

 gate. The goldfinch or thistlefinch j^asses much of its 

 time among flowers, and is vividly coloured accordingly. 

 The partridge can hardly be distinguished from the 

 fallow or stubble upon or among which it crouches, and 

 it is considered an accomplishment among sportsmen to 

 have a good eye for finding a hare sitting. In northern 

 countries, the winter dress of the hares and ptarmigans is 



