114 THE MEANING OF EVOLUTION 



the ground on which they sat, and because they kept 

 perfectly quiet while the enemy moved about. This 

 process has gone on so long that the toad has come 

 to be astonishingly well protected by its resemblance 

 to the ground. This likeness it intensifies by its inter- 

 esting habit not only of keeping entirely quiet, but of 

 dropping its nose to the ground, instead of sitting 

 high on its front legs, as it does when not in danger. 



I have noticed that if a snake and a toad be placed 

 in the same cage, when the snake approaches to cap- 

 ture the toad the toad drops into a squatting position, 

 and is very likely to blow himself up until he is 

 rounder in outline than he was before. Whether this 

 is a deceptive trick which makes him the more resem- 

 ble a stone is more than I can say. I do not remem- 

 ber having seen our eastern toad do it. I have seen 

 it happen a number of times in the laboratory of a 

 Colorado naturalist, and it is quite possible that in the 

 open country more sparsely covered with vegetation 

 than is our ground in the east this inflating device 

 may serve the toad more effectually than if it kept its 

 own outline. 



Even among creatures far more active than the 

 toad and the katydid an inconspicuous color must cer- 

 tainly result in distinctly better protection. Everyone 

 knows the jay and the cardinal when first he has seen 

 them, if only tie has a slight acquaintance with their 



