CONSPICUOUSNESS IN NATURE 15 
an entity in Nature, and may be conveniently 
classified thus : 
1. Signals to friends. 
Purposely (a) Repelling conspicuous move- 
conspicuous ment: to repel an enemy, 
movements. | 2. Signals to] to frighten it away. 
enemies. |(b) Attracting conspicuous 
movement: to attract an 
enemy, to draw its attack. 
Position.—Conspicuousness as the result 
of position cannot properly be considered 
apart from the animal’s surroundings, their 
form and colour. A moth resting on a tree- 
trunk may be conspicuous or not, according 
as its form and colour contrasts or harmonises 
with that of the tree. However, there is 
little doubt that some animals sometimes, 
and others frequently, purposely take up 
positions which render them conspicuous in 
Nature. It is not always easy to decide 
whether any given observed position of an 
animal which is conspicuous is the result 
of accident or purpose. Only by a thorough 
knowledge of the habits of the animal, and 
after many observations have been made, 
can this be decided. For in every animal’s 
surroundings can be found that which will 
render it, on the one hand, conspicuous, or 
