MOTIONLESS GAME. 157 



It is perfectly wonderful how difficult it often is to 

 distinguish the outline of even the largest, and one 

 would think the most conspicuous animals, when they 

 are standing motionless, among thick bush, or under 

 the shade of heavy timber. Nature has so wonder- 

 fully adapted the colours of birds and animals, to cor- 

 respond with the prevailing tints of their natural habitats, 

 that even when they are right in front of one, a few 

 yards off, it often takes a practised eye to make 

 them out. 



As every hunter is aware, game has the knack of 

 making itself quite invisible in this way, even at very 

 close quarters ; and the way wild game will frequently 

 remain perfectly motionless, when danger is near, is 

 a regular habit of theirs which is well known. They 

 are then intently listening to catch the slightest sound 

 of an advancing enemy, and testing the air by their 

 keen sense of smell to detect any taint of his presence 

 carried by the wind. As soon as they have satisfied 

 themselves of the exact quarter from which an attack 

 is impending, if they think they have not been ob- 

 served, they will endeavour to steal noiselessly away 

 out of danger. But if an animal finds his enemy is 

 very near, so that he cannot escape unseen, he will 

 probably rely upon his skill in hiding, and will very 

 often remain motionless though the hunter may pass 

 within a few yards of him not infrequently with 

 perfect success. 



Thus, in the case of that immense creature the ele- 

 phant, Gordon Gumming tells us that 



" the ashy colour of his hide corresponds so closely with the 

 general appearance of the grey thorny jungles, which he 

 frequents during the day, that a person unaccustomed to 



