48 THE GAME OF BRITISH EAST AFRICA. 



For his particular walk in life the lion is perfectly coloured, and the scheme of 

 coloration is absolutely simple and unlike the intricate and complicated coloration of 

 many animals which are exploited as being such wonderful instances of protective 

 harmony with their surroundings. It may be argued that a full, black-maned lion 

 must be greatly handicapped in his hunting if khaki is the best colour for night 

 work. The black mane, however, does not cover his whole body, and so he is not 

 as visible as if he were black all over. Moreover, it is generally the females which 

 lead in attack and stalk. That only a small proportion of males bear this sexual 

 adornment is perhaps a proof that it is not a serviceable colour to them. 



The tiger is said to be of a colour suitable for his purposes also. I prefer, 

 however, to speak only of animals I have observed intimately. 



A leopard's usual habitat is bush or forest, where there is much of shadow, with 

 but little patches of light peeping between branches and leaves. For this purpose 

 a darker coat than that of the lion becomes necessary, and it is advisable to have 

 it broken up into patches or blotches to represent the small patches of starlight or 

 moonlight streaming through the trees. 



Presumably this is also a good arrangement of colours for the purposes for which 

 it is intended — that is, stalking at night in bush or forest. One would not imagine 

 that it would be a good colour for concealment by day, yet it seems as if it is. I 

 have often been in countries where leopard, by the spoor and other signs, are very 

 plentiful. As the leopard lies very close and very seldom moves away when anybody 

 comes near, I must have often been in their close proximity. Yet have I very 

 rarely seen a leopard, and almost always only when he has been disturbed or 

 frightened into moving. 



The very limited number of times I have seen it has been generally over 



a hill, or when walked on accidentally, or when hunting away from cover late in 

 the evening. 



Nearly everyone who has been in leopard country remarks on the extreme 

 rarity of seeing one. 



This, I take it, is partly due to the animal's skill in taking cover and partly due 

 to his coat harmonising with his surroundings to a greater extent than one would 

 imagine possible. 



Two other animals seem to find much the same arrangement of colour useful for 

 bush-work. They are the serval cat and the spotted genet. 



The spotted hysena, too, is of a very serviceable colour for slinking in and out 

 of shadows unobserved, but what purpose such protective coloration can serve him, 

 I fail to see. The only time that it may be of use to him is in prowling round 



