28 AFRICAN NATURE NOTES CHAP. 



which has eliminated all colours from the picture 

 except black and white. In life, the foliage of the 

 mimosa is very thin, and I think it probable that 

 the rich dark chestnut blotches divided by white 

 lines of the Somali giraffe would show through it 

 at least as distinctly as would the colours of the 

 southern giraffe in a like position. The Somali 

 giraffe cannot constantly live amongst mimosa trees, 

 as these only grow in valleys near streams or dried- 

 up watercourses, and only cover a small proportion 

 of any country I have yet seen either in South or 

 East Africa. 



I must say that I rather distrust the camera as a 

 true interpreter of nature, as I have seen so many 

 photographs of the nests of small birds in bushes in 

 which it was very difficult even for a trained eye to 

 find the nest at all, although in all probability it 

 would have been comparatively easy to detect these 

 nests in the actual bushes in which they were 

 placed. 



Speaking of the Somali giraffe, Colonel J. J. 

 Harrison, in a footnote to a photograph of one of 

 these animals shot by himself right out in open 

 country, which appeared in the Bystander for 

 January 30, 1907, says: "These handsome 

 coloured giraffes are very striking- when seen 

 standing in the sun. Of a rich bright chestnut 

 colour, with pure white rings, they stand out 

 splendidly as compared with the dull grey colouring 

 of the more southern giraffe." 



However, it appears to me that to whatever 

 extent the coloration of the various races of giraffes 

 harmonises with their surroundings, that result must 

 have been brought about by the influence of their 

 environment rather than by the need of protective 

 coloration, for I cannot believe that the struggle for 

 life against the attacks of carnivorous animals can 

 have been sufficiently severe to have influenced the 



