44 BIRD LIFE GLIMPSES 



tiger. 1 Surely their coloration suggests adornment 

 much more obviously than assimilation ; and though 

 they hunt mostly, as I say, by night, they are yet 

 sufficiently diurnal to be able to admire one another 

 in the daytime. Darwin, who is often assumed to 

 have been favourable to the protective theory of 

 coloration in the larger animals, in instances where 

 he was opposed to it, says this : " Although we 

 must admit that many quadrupeds have received 

 their present tints, either as a protection or as an 

 aid in procuring prey, yet, with a host of species, 

 the colours are far too conspicuous, and too 

 singularly arranged, to allow us to suppose that 

 they serve for these purposes." He then cites 

 various antelopes, giving illustrations of two, and 

 continues : " The same conclusion may, perhaps, be 

 extended to the tiger, one of the most beautiful 

 animals in the world, the sexes of which cannot be 

 distinguished by colour, even by the dealers in wild 

 beasts. Mr. Wallace believes that the striped coat 

 of the tiger ' so assimilates with the vertical stems 



1 I can see no reason why those who think the leopard's spots 

 and the tiger's stripes protective, should hold the same theory in 

 regard to the quiet and uniform colouring of the lion. To others, 

 however, this and the obscure markings on the young animal 

 certainly suggest that, here, sexual adornment has given place 

 to harmony with the surrounding landscape. The male lion, how- 

 ever, has developed a mane, and this, by becoming fashionable at 

 the expense of colour and pattern, may have led to the deteriora- 

 tion of the latter. The aboriginal colouring of all these creatures 

 was, probably, dull, and to this the lion may have reverted. But if 

 he is protected by his colouring, how can the leopard in the same 

 country and with similar habits also be? The same question 

 may be asked in regard to the puma and jaguar, who roam to- 

 gether, seeking the same prey, over a vast expanse of territory. 

 Again, if the lion was once spotted, and if his spots, like the 

 leopard's, were a protection, why has he lost them? 



