PROTECTIVE COLORATION. 43 



darkened, tlie result being a uniform color, with an ap- 

 parent absence of shadow, tending to render the oljject 

 invisible. 



Mr. Thayer clearly demonstrates his discovery Ijy 

 using several decoys about the size and shape of a Wood- 

 cock's body. These he places aljout six inches above the 

 ground on wire uprights, or in a row on a horizontal rod. 

 One of these decoys he colors uniformly, al)ove and be- 

 low, to resemble the earth about it, or he may even give 

 it a fine coating of the earth itself. The ujiper half of 

 the otlier decoys is treated in exactly the same manner, 

 but their lower half is graded to a pure white on the me- 

 dian line l)elow. At a distance of forty or fifty yards 

 the unifomdy colored decoy can lie plainly seen, but 

 tliose which are white below are entirely invisible until 

 one is within twenty or thirty feet of them. 



After definitely locating these graded decoys the ex- 

 periment may be repeated ; l)ut the result will always be 

 the same. As one slowly retreats from them they -will, as 

 by magic, seem to pass out of existence, while the one which 

 is colored alike both above and below can lie seen distinctly. 



One of the Ijest ai-guments for the value of a protect- 

 ive coloration is the fact that the birds themselves are 

 such thoroiigh lielie'S'ers in it. Here we have the reason 

 why — in sportsman's parlance — game 1 lirds " lie to a dog." 

 When there is sufficient cover, they trust to their prdtect- 

 ive coloring to escape detection, and take wing only as 

 a last resort ; l:)ut "when co^^er is scanty, they generally 

 rise far out of gunsliot. Some Snipe and Sparrows, 

 however, attempt to conceal themselves even on bare 

 sand or worn grass by scpiatting close to the earth, with 

 which their plumage harmonizes in coh.ir. 



A sitting Woodcock had such confidence in its own 

 invisibility that it permitted itself to be stroked without 

 leaving the nest ; but when a light snow fell, and the 



