Mimicry Among Animals 



would be instantly seen. Owls and goatsuckers 

 are of those dark mottled tints that will assimilate 

 with bark and lichen, and thus protecl them 

 during the day, and at the same time be incon- 

 spicuous in the dusk. 



It is only in the tropics, among forests which 

 never 1< >se their foliage, that we find wh< >le gr< >ups 

 of birds whose chief colour is green. The parr. >ts 

 are the most striking example, but we have 

 also a group of green pigeons in the East; and 

 the barbets, leaf-thrushes, bee-eaters, white- 

 eyes, turacos, and several smaller groups, have 

 so much green in their plumage as to tend greatly 

 to conceal them among the foliage. 



The conformity of tint which has been so far 

 shown to exist between animals and their habita- 

 tions is of somewhat general character; we will 

 now consider the cases of more special adapta- 

 tion. If the lion is enabled by his sandy colour 

 readily to conceal himself by merely crouching 

 down in the desert, how, it may be asked, do 

 the elegant markings of the tiger, the jaguar, 

 and the other large cats agree with this theory ? 

 We reply that these are generally cases of more 

 or less special adaptation. The tiger is a jungle 

 animal, and hides himself among tufts of grass 

 or of bamboos, and m these positions the vertical 

 stripes with which his body is adorned nu: 

 assimilate with the vertical stems of the bamboo, 

 as to assist greatly in concealing him from his 

 approaching prey. How remarkable it is that 

 besides the lion and tiger, almost all the other 

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