ON AN EAST AFRICAN RANCH 55 



it is undoubtedly much less conspicuous than if it were 

 black and yet the black leopards, the melanistic individ- 

 uals, thrive as well as their spotted brothers; while on the 

 whole it is probably slightly more conspicuous than if it were 

 nearly unicolor, like the American cougar. As compared with 

 the cougar's tawny hide the leopard's coloration represents a 

 very slight disadvantage, and not an advantage, to the beast; 

 but its life is led under conditions which make either the 

 advantage or the disadvantage so slight as to be negligible; 

 its peculiar coloration is probably in actual fact of hardly 

 the slightest service to it from the "protective" stand-point, 

 whether as regards escaping from its enemies or approach- 

 ing its prey. It has extraordinary facility in hiding, it is 

 a master of the art of stealthy approach; but it is normally 

 nocturnal and by night the color of its hide is of no conse- 

 quence whatever; while by day, as I have already said, 

 its varied coloration renders it slightly more easy to detect 

 than is the case with the cougar. 



All of this applies with peculiar force to the zebra, 

 which it has also been somewhat the fashion of recent 

 years to hold up as an example of "protective coloration." 

 As a matter of fact the zebra's coloration is not protective 

 at all; on the contrary it is exceedingly conspicuous, and 

 under the actual conditions of the zebra's life probably 

 never hides it from its foes; the instances to the contrary 

 being due to conditions so exceptional that they may be 

 disregarded. If any man seriously regards the zebra's 

 coloration as "protective," let him try the experiment of 

 wearing a hunting suit of the zebra pattern; he will speed- 

 ily be undeceived. The zebra is peculiarly a beast of the 

 open plains, and makes no effort ever to hide from the 

 observation of its foes. It is occasionally found in open 

 forest; and may there now and then escape observation 

 simply as any animal of any color a dun hartebeest or a 

 nearly black bushbuck may escape observation. At a 

 distance of over a few hundred yards the zebra's coloration 

 ceases to be conspicuous simply because the distance has 



