THE SILENT LANGUAGE OF ANIMALS 



WHAT a great difference there is in bril- 

 liancy of colouring between birds and the 

 furry creatures. How the plumage of a cardinal, 

 or indigo bunting, or hummingbird glows in the 

 sunlight, and reflects to our eyes the most intense 

 vermilion or indigo or an iridescence of the whole 

 gamut of colour. On the other hand, how som- 

 brely clad are the deer, the rabbits, and the mice; 

 gray and brown and sphite being the 6sual hue of 

 their fur. 



This difference is by no means accidental, but 

 has for its cause a deep significance, — all-impor- 

 tant to the life of the bird or mammal. Scientists 

 have long known of it, and if yre unlock it from 

 its hard sheathing of technical terms, we shall 

 find it as simple and as easy to understand as it 

 is interesting. JVhen we once hold the key, it will 

 seem as if scales had fallen from our eyes, and 

 :when we take our walks abroad through the fields 

 and woods, :when we visit a zoological park, or 

 even see the animals in a circus, we shall feel as 

 though a new :world were opened to us. 



No post offices, or even addresses, exist for 

 birds and mammals; when the children of the 

 desert or the jungle are lost, no detective or 

 policeman hastens to find them, no telephone or 



182 



