74 THE STUDY OF ANIMAL LIFE 



colouration well protects this animal in the colder 

 regions it frequents, when the surroundings are 

 covered with a mantle of snow. 



Some of the little Shrews, as they skip merrily 

 through the grass fields, are often very difficult to 

 find, and still more difficult to follow in their move- 

 ments. Their activity, it is true, greatly aids 

 them, but their colouration also plays an important 

 part in their protection and preservation. 



When we come to our feathered population, a 

 larger number of instances may be cited. A 

 female Pheasant, a Snipe, or a Woodcock, sitting 

 placidly upon her nest, is often very difficult to 

 locate. It needs a trained and practised eye to 

 find her, and I have frequently had a sitting bird 

 pointed out to me by the keen-eyed gamekeeper, 

 which required all my ingenuity to discern. 



The Tree Creeper and the Wryneck match in a 

 wonderful way the tree-trunks and branches 

 which they so delight to frequent. The first- 

 named, especially, is splendidly protected in his 

 sombre brown dress, and if the little arboreal bird 

 did not make a sort of scampering noise as he 

 mounted upwards, he would very often remain 

 unseen altogether. 



Disturb a Woodpecker in an open glade in the 

 wood. He at once flies to the bole of a tree, and 

 it requires careful watching to follow and locate 

 the gay bird-sprite, so well does the green and 



