100 REV. F. A, WALKER, D.D., F.L.S:, 
who seem to dread the glare outside, and flutter gently from 
leaf to leaf, their colouring,—which is usually black, with 
markings of orange, crimson, or blue,—coming into strongest 
contrast with the uniform green of leaf and grass.”? And so 
forth. 
In the second paper on Oriental Entomology that I had the 
honour of reading before a meeting of this Society, mention 
was made of the similarity of insects to vegetation consti- 
tuting a protective resemblance in the case of butterflies, as 
also the means whereby other orders of insects were enabled 
to seize their prey unawares. ‘l'o give an illustration of my 
meaning which I did not, I think, touch upon :—A spider 
coiled up at the bottom of a flower will precisely counterfeit 
the green axil of the flower-bud. And so, too, with animals. 
The stripes of the tiger are often deceptive, like the tint of 
the bamboos and canes wherein he makes his lair; the hue of 
the lion’s hide resembles the sand of the desert on which he 
stalks. The ptarmigan in winter and the Arctic hare at the 
same season are white as the surrounding snows, the better 
to elude their natural enemies, while the Polar bear depends 
upon that self-same hue the more easily to surprise the 
unwary seal; and the ermime and Arctic fox are likewise 
clad in white fur at that time of year, the more readily to 
seize their prey. It has also been observed that hares, 
rabbits, stags, and goats possess the most favourable 
shade for concealing them in the depths of the forest or in 
the fields. And that when the most suitable colour for the 
riflemen at the first enrolment of the volunteer corps was 
discussed, it was supposed to be green, but, contrary to 
expectation, that which escaped the eyes of the enemy was 
the fawn colour of the doe, when soldiers dressed in 
different shades were placed in woods and plains to try which 
offered the best concealment. The birds which prey upon 
the smaller tribes, and carnivorous fishes like the shark, are 
clothed in dead colours, so as to be the least seen by their 
victims ; and it was for no unmeaning fancy that the negroes 
of the Soudan were depicted in the paintings of the old 
Egyptian tombs clad in the yellow skins of the leopard or the 
panther. Nor can I wonder that the Kallima, or Indian leaf 
butterfly, manages so successfully, after it has settled, to elude 
the birds, when I myself once made with outstretched hand 
for an autumnal leaf standing upright on end in the mud of 
a Cambridgeshire lane,—as it exactly presented a superficial 
_ resemblance to the lemon colour and dull violet patches of the 
under side of the wings of a South American butterfly 
(genus Callidryas). 
