APPENDICES 431 



it (or at least the almost identical Indian form grayi] goes by 

 the name of the ' invisible bird.' 



In Telugu . . Gudi konga = ' Blind heron.' 

 In Tamil . . Null kuruvi= 'Blind bird.' 



" Owing to paucity of language, the word meaning 'blind' 

 is also used to express ' invisible,' by transference." 



[One pertinent question suggests itself. What benefit, after 

 all, does the squacco heron secure? None of its congeners 

 adopt tricks of concealment or elusive tactics of any kind ; yet 

 all flourish equally the squacco with its perfected scheme of 

 colour-protection, the others, " naked and unashamed," in spot- 

 less purity of white. What bearing, if any, has colour on the 

 well-being of these, or any other creatures ? Answers to that 

 problem lie beyond the scope of a book concerned mainly 

 with facts.] 



A paradox in parallels is afforded by another Sudan bird, 

 the white-tailed lapwing ( Vanellus leucurus), equally colour- 

 protected with the squacco, so far as perfect assimilation to 

 environment goes, but which has not learnt to appreciate the 

 virtue of quiescence, or perhaps may have discarded the lesson ? 

 One quality without the other is valueless. If asleep or 

 motionless, the keenest eye might overlook a score of these 

 drab-hued plovers on the drab bogs they frequent. But never 

 are they motionless; the whole company keep on the move, 

 snapping at a water-insect here, a slug or snail there; and 

 movement gives them away. Inconspicuous as they are on 

 the ground, yet on rising these lapwings show nearly all white 

 (see Fig. at p. 315) in which respect also they resemble the 

 squacco. 



The deduction follows that this Sudan lapwing admirably 

 adapted as he is for concealment disdains scientific theory 

 and relies upon his own vigilance for safety ; also that, in his 

 said judgment, he has the concurrence of every other wild 

 beast and bird, save only the squacco heron ! The latter 

 may either be testing a new experiment or, alternatively, 

 clinging too long to a safeguard that already all the rest have 

 found fallacious. 



If we are to believe this pretty fable about colour- 

 protection to accept its studied fakements as a masterpiece 



