MAMMALS 55 



much the birds are surpassed by the mammals in the 

 life of feeling ! The senses themselves are, with the 

 exception of sight, constructed quite differently in the 

 two classes. Think, for instance, of the sense of touch 

 in the whiskers of the cat, and the sensitiveness of our 

 finger-tips. Think of the sense of taste, which is 

 almost entirely lacking in the bird, and the extra- 

 ordinarily fine scent of the dog, which recognises the 

 track of its master amongst a thousand. Even hearing 

 is far more advanced in the mammal than in the bird, 

 though it has, for the most part, no appreciation of 

 music ; but we know that the musical ear has more 

 difficulty in detecting faint sounds than the unmusical. 



The intelligence of the mammal has been developed 

 along with its senses. A great advance in this is so 

 peculiar to them that we might almost call it a 

 characteristic of the whole class. 



However, even the keenest intelligence would not 

 protect our quadrupeds from destruction, if they were 

 not provided by Nature with other means of escaping. 

 It is their colour, especially, that causes their enemies 

 to overlook them. The hunter often finds that he will 

 pass within three yards of a hare in its bed without 

 seeing it. And how difficult it is for the unpractised 

 eye to distinguish a standing doe from the trees of the 

 forest. 



The colour of our mammals varies in all tones of grey 

 and brown, and this is the colour of the ground. An 

 animal with a lighter shade would soon catch the eye of 

 its enemies ; it could not guard against surprises, and 

 would be doomed. Hence, if a quadruped of a lighter 



