182 OTHER ANIMALS 



either for once disdaining to chase its foes or deterred 

 therefrom by its strong dislike to the noonday sun. 



GIACINTA GALLETTI. 



August 8, 1903. 



NOTE. Assuming terrifying attitudes is a common self- 

 protective device of animals, and the fact that it is em- 

 ployed by invertebrates (caterpillars for instance) as well 

 as vertebrates is warranty that it is of great life-saving 

 value. For the same reason, it would be (and is) of wide 

 dispersion among the weaker and gentler animals. The 

 stamping of the feet may serve a double function in social 

 animals, daunting the enemy and warning the friend. 

 Rabbits stamp as a signal to seek shelter, and the sentinel 

 termites outside the termitory strike it with their antennae 

 when trouble is toward. A curious example of nature's 

 economy is the ribbed ruff of the Frilled Lizard 

 (Chlamydosaurus kingi). When excited, this harmless 

 lizard opens its mouth, stained with brilliant red, and so 

 erects the elongated tongue bone furnished with a thin 

 membrane. By such means it both daunts its foe and 

 attracts its lady, and love and fear are served by the 

 same weapon. 



FEIGNING DEATH 



The following anecdote of an animal " passive resister " 

 may possibly interest some of your readers. Nearly thirty 

 years ago I was out with a small shooting party in a 

 district of Northern Oudh. We had a strip of scrub 

 jungle beaten by coolies, but there was very little game 

 in it, and nothing came out my way but a jackal, which, 

 I am ashamed to say, I shot. My only excuse is that 

 I was quite a youngster at the time. The bullet went 

 through its back and out again, and the animal dropped, 

 seemingly stone dead. I told a coolie to carry it to our 

 camp close by, and the man picked it up by the tail and 



