PARENTAL COLOUR 95 
ing, neither do they; they are almost always 
protectively coloured. 
For instance, of the Falconide, only the 
small insectivorous species that are liable to 
be attacked by the more powerful kinds show 
conspicuous colouring. For similar reasons, 
no night birds should present, nor do they, 
conspicuous colouring. There are, however, 
many birds which present conspicuous colour- 
ing only in the male: with very few exceptions 
these are found to make open nests, which 
require the female to be protectively coloured ; 
for this reason, only the male is conspicuously 
coloured (when males incubate, females are 
the more conspicuous). There still remain 
many which are neither predatory nor night 
birds, and which, nevertheless, are protectively 
coloured in both sexes; it is among these 
birds that conspicuous displays are seen best, 
and most marked. The position these birds 
will take up, the motion they will make in an 
endeavour thus to protect their young, are 
remarkable—the Meadow-pipit (Anthus pra- 
tensis), the Reed-bunting (Emberiza scheni- 
clus), and the Partridge (Perdix cinerea) are 
well-known examples. Only by the collection 
of a large number of facts such as these can 
the theory become a law. As before mentioned, 
