LIVERIES AND THEIR MEANING 67 



their adult ancestors which wore a similar livery ; the coloration 

 may be the outward and visible sign of the inward and psychical 

 grace ! For these same young, when danger threatens, are 

 often left by their parents to fend for themselves. Later, when 

 they have acquired the later habits of their parents, the coloration 

 associated with the earlier and different behaviour is put away. 



This, of course, is mere hypothesis, but it serves to bring out 

 the deep interest which is attached to such an apparently simple 

 thing as the colour of an animal's skin. 



Those engaged in the teaching of Nature Study would do 

 well at any rate to draw the attention of children to this matter. 

 They should be taught to observe the stripes of donkeys, and to 

 keep a lookout for similar markings in horses. These stripes, 

 by the way, are rare in horses, but common, though by no means 

 universal, in asses. Young lions can only be seen in Museums 

 and Zoological Gardens, but young deer and young foxes may 

 at least occasionally be met with. 



In the coloured plate illustrating different types of Mammals 

 the young of the red-deer is shown, which, in being spotted, differs 

 conspicuously from the adult deer ; in which the male only, it 

 should be noted, is provided with antlers. In earlier days these 

 animals formed the prey of the wolf, from which escape was only 

 possible by flight. Hence the long legs of the young, to enable it 

 to keep pace with its parents. 



On the opposite side of this picture are shown the stealthy, 

 tree-climbing cat ; the burrowing badger, partly flesh-eating and 

 partly vegetarian ; and the wily fox, which is wholly carnivorous. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY. R. Lydekker, British Mammals (Lloyd's Natural History Series) ; 

 R. Lydekker, " Mammals," The Royal Natural History (Warne & Co.) ; Flower and 

 Lydekker, Mammals, Living and Extinct (A. H. Black) ; E. Ray Lankester, Extinct 

 Animals (Constable & Co.) ; R. Lydekker, Geographical History of Mammals (Cam- 

 bridge University Press) ; W. L. Sclater, The Geography of Mammals (Kegan Paul & 

 Co.); W. Flower, The Horse (Macmillan & Co., Nature Series); R. Lydekker, Guide to 

 the Specimens of the Horse Family (British Museum), and Guide to the Domesticated 

 Animals in the British Museum (British Museum). 



