Animals that Wear Disguises 



r 



for protection against foes, but to assist the 

 creature in getting its living. Belt tells of 

 his surprise in Nicaragua at finding what he 

 supposed the dropping of some large bird on 

 the leaves of a bush to be really a voracious 

 spider lying in wait for victims. When it drew 

 in its legs and squatted in this disguise no bug 

 would ever suspect any harm, and at the same 

 time the spider itself was safeguarded, because 

 there was no likelihood that any of its enemies 

 (mostly birds) would pay it any attention, ex- 

 cept to avoid it. 



This is one of the most extraordinary and 

 most effectual disguises that have been discov- 

 ered; but the more naturalists investigate the 

 ways and means of the lower orders of life, the 

 more they find nature utilizing these protective 

 resemblances. 



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