WARNING COLOURS 165 



show that he does not court concealment. He is very 

 abundant in the damp woods, and I was convinced he 

 was uneatable so soon as I made his acquaintance 

 and saw the happy sense of security with which he 

 hopped about. I took a few specimens home with me 

 and tried my fowls and ducks with them, but none 

 would touch them. At last, by throwing down pieces 

 of meat, for which there was a great competition 

 amongst them, I managed to entice a young duck into 

 snatching up one of the little frogs. Instead of swal- 

 lowing it, however, it instantly threw it out of its 

 mouth, and went about jerking its head, as if trying 

 to throw off some unpleasant taste.' It is also ex- 

 tremely probable that the well-known European Sala- 

 mander (Salamandra maculosd), so conspicuous with 

 its irregular yellow blotches on a black ground, pos- 

 sesses some unpleasant attribute. I do not think, 

 however, that there is any direct evidence for this, 

 like that obtained by Mr. Belt in the case of the 

 Nicaraguan frog. 



Warning Colours in Marine Animals 

 Many fish are poisonous, and many possess for- 

 midable defensive spines, but I do not know that any 

 attempt has been made to connect these characters 

 with a conspicuous appearance. It is very probable, 

 however, that such a connection exists in many cases. 1 



1 Mr. Garstang suggests that the weever-fish (Trachinus viper a) 

 is an example of Warning Colouration. It possesses a pair of in- 



