204 Animal Life 
degree this is confirmed by the circumstance that the tiger is likewise a native of 
the arid deserts of Mongolia and other parts of Central Asia. Nevertheless it is a 
fact that Indian tigers are generally more heavily striped than their Mongolian cousins, 
so that perhaps the former may have been further modified in relation to their present 
environment. The striping of the legs of the okapi, as well as those of certain species 
of wild goats, are other examples of this “ breaking-up” type of colouring. It may be 
added that this type is specially adapted to deep-bodied animals, like tigers and zebras. 
Another example of protective coloration is probably presented by the face of the 
common badger, which, as we all know, is marked by a series of black and white 
stripes running in a longitudinal direction. When a badger is seen in the open, these 
are very conspicuous; but it is probable, although I have not had the opportunity 
of verifying this by actual observation, that when the creature is peering out of its 
hole, debating whether it is safe to venture afield, these alternate dark and light stripes 
render it very inconspicuous. Some of my readers who may have the opportunity of 
watching badgers in their native haunts, will perhaps take the trouble to ascertain 
whether this suggestion as to the object of the peculiar face-colouring is well founded. 
Photograph by Lord Delamere. 
A GROUP OF GREVY’S ZEBRA. 
Anyway, I have little doubt that the purpose of these stripes is to break up the outline 
of the muzzle. 
But there is another remarkable point connected with the coloration of the badger 
and several of its allies, namely, that the under-parts are much darker than the back. 
In the badger, for instance, the back is grey, while the lower surface of the body and 
the limbs are black. A similar condition, but perhaps in an even more marked degree, 
obtains in the case of the ratel, or honey-badger, of India and Africa, and also in 
that of the South American tayra, which is hkewise a member of the weasel family. 
Now all these animals are in the habit of burrowing, and the dark under-parts and 
light back are probably connected with this mode of life, but in what way I am not at 
present able to say, for such a type of colouring is by no means common to all animals 
which dwell in holes, as witness the rabbit. Neither is it characteristic of all the 
members of the weasel family which are in the habit of passing more or less of their 
time underground, the stoat and the weasel itself, for instance, having light under-parts: 
A still greater puzzle is presented by certain large herbivorous mammals—notably 
the wapiti and the Indian nilgai—in which the under-parts are also much darker than 
the back. That is to say, these creatures are coloured on a plan precisely the opposite 
