CHAMELEONS IN FUR AND FEATHER 



THE colour of things in nature has been the 

 subject of many volumes and yet it may be 

 truthfully said that no two naturalists are wholly 

 agreed on the interpretation of the countless hues 

 of plants and animals. Some assert that all alleged 

 instances of protective colouring and mimicry are 

 merely the result of accident ; while at the oppo- 

 site swing of the pendulum we find theories, pro- 

 tective and mimetic, for the colours of even the 

 tiny one-celled green plants which cover the bark 

 of trees ! Here is abundant opportunity for any 

 observer of living nature to help toward the solu- 

 tion of these problems. 



In a battle there are always two sides and at its 

 finish one side always runs away while the other 

 pursues. Thus it is in the wars of nature, only 

 here the timid ones are always ready to flee, while 

 the strong are equally prepared to pursue. It is 

 only by constant vigilance that the little mice can 

 save themselves from disappearing down the 

 throats of their enemies, as under cover of dark- 

 ness they snatch nervous mouthfuls of grain in 

 the fields, — and hence their gray colour and their 

 large, watchful eyes; but on the other hand, the 

 baby owls in their hollow tree would starve if the 



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