WAKNING COLORATION. 10^5 



occasionally making dashes into the shallow water and carrjnng off 

 stragglers. Yet even Belone dashes up for any bait thrown into the 

 water, though the portions that sink below the surface are left to 

 the numerous bottom feeders. Of these we have Chrysophrys hifas- 

 ciata, Fimelepturus cinerescens^ and two other species which I have 

 not identified, and they will eat, or have become accustomed to 

 eating, almost anything, including shelled specimens of Margariti- 

 fera vulgaris which had been kept in formalin for three weeks, and 

 the guts of Balistes Jlaviinarghiatus and B. viriclescens which had 

 been in the same pi-eservative overnight. P imelejituribs eats the 

 fresh viscera of its own species, or the pure white cooked flesh of 

 Caranx sp. equally readily. But none of these five fishes will eat 

 either of these two species of Chroiuodoris ; attracted by the splash 

 they dashed up to tliem as to any other bait, but one fish after 

 another, of each species, as the nudibranch sank, at once turned 

 away after just touching it. Examples of Chrysophrys took the 

 animals into their mouths, but at once dropped them undamaged. 



The behaviour of Fimelepturus was pai'ticularly interesting. If 

 a specimen of C. reticulata, which is white underneath (but for a 

 few purple spots under the edge of the mantle), fell on the sand 

 wrong side up, the fish would at once attempt to take it. If, how- 

 ever, the slug fell right side up, so displaying its gorgeous mantle, 

 Fimelejytttrus, swimming over it a few inches away, took no more 

 notice of it than of a stone. 



What actually prevented these numerous fishes, of five distinct 

 species, from swallowing the Ghromodorids'^. One can hardly 

 believe that a living slug could have a flavour more powerful 

 than that of formalin! Moi'cover, these two species have no odour 

 sensible to human organs, as have so ma,ny marine organisms, 

 including the Chromodoiid Ceratosoma cornigerum, and the 

 Tritonid Melibe Jimhriata. The behaviour of these fishes, which 

 had for some weeks been feeding upon all kinds of kitchen 

 refuse, and especially the fact that Avhen presenting an -ew^-usual 

 appeai-ance Chromocloris momentarily attracted them, disposes 

 of the objection that they merely refused to eat an object which 

 was strange to them. Indeed, tlie natural circumstances of the 

 case make it impossible that C. reticulata should be unfamiliar 

 to any of these fishes except Belone. 



But that this objection is a weighty one and in all sujiposititious 

 cases of protective coloration must be carefully considered, the 

 following examples will show. 



The camels of the southern part of the Red Sea Province get 

 desert grazing all the year round, and are not fed upon " dura " 

 corn {Sorghum) in the summer. The consequence is that a 

 southern camel has actually to be taught with much patience (for 

 he deserves all that Kipling said about him) to eat corn. The 

 feast may be spread before him, but eat it he will not, until his 

 ovvnei', seizing him by the nostrils, pours the corn into his mouth 

 with the other hand, spite of his groaning protests. Indeed some 



