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traps, or throw out lures which shall bring their 

 prey to them, or at least enable them to get 

 near enough unobserved to pounce upon it. 



This is a large part of the service of what 

 is called " protective coloring " that is, the 

 possession (by slow acquirement in the course 

 of many generations) of colors that correspond 

 so closely with the creature's customary sur- 

 roundings as to make it unnoticeable when quiet. 



The colors of the tree-frog, for example, 

 which modify themselves by almost immediate 

 change to precisely accord with the hue of the 

 bark upon which he sits, hide him not only from 

 his enemies, but make him look so much like a 

 knot on the branch, that the insects running 

 about the trees never see him until they have 

 run right against his nose and the next instant 

 find themselves stuck to the tongue he has darted 

 out and traveling down his throat. The same 

 is true of the garden toad, as he sits as quiet 

 and brown as a lump of earth among the grass 

 roots and seizes the flies and bugs that blunder 

 within reach, never noticing the ogre until it 

 is too late. 



$ 142 o 



