312 TALKS WITH YOUNG OBSERVERS 



protective coloring of certain insects, animals, 

 and birds the step is not far to actual mimicry 

 of certain special forms and colors. The natu- 

 ralists find in Java a spider that exactly copies 

 upon a leaf the form and colors of bird drop- 

 pings. How many studies of honey-gathering 

 bees did nature make before she achieved her 

 masterpiece in this line in the honey-bee of our 

 hives? The skunk's peculiar weapon of defense 

 is suggested by the mink and the weasel. Is 

 not the beaver the head of the series of gnawers, 

 the loon of divers, the condor of soarers ? Al- 

 ways one species that goes beyond any other. 

 Look over a collection of African animals and 

 see how high shouldered they are, how many 

 hints or prophecies of the giraffe there are before 

 the giraffe is reached. After nature had made 

 the common turtle, of course she w^ould not 

 stop till she had made the box tortoise. In 

 him the idea is fully realized. On the body of 

 the porcupine the quills are detached and stuck 

 into the flesh of its enemy on being touched; 

 but nature has not stopped here. With the tail 

 the animal strikes its quills into its assailant. 

 Now if some animal could be found that actually 

 threw its quills, at a distance of several feet, 

 the idea would be still further carried out. 



The rattlesnake is not the only rattler. I 

 have seen the black snake and the harmless lit- 

 tle garter snake vibrate their tails when dis- 

 turbed in precisely the same manner. The 

 black snake's tail was in contact with a dry leaf, 

 and it gave forth a loud humming sound which 

 at once put me on the alert. 



