74 DOMESTICATED ANIMALS AND PLANTS 
the habit of resting with its wings spread flat and not folded 
back, as is characteristic of most species of the butterfly. 
Significance of protective coloring and markings. Quite akin 
to the utility of weapons is the whole matter of protective color- 
ing. By this is meant in general that color or an assemblage 
of colors which so blends with the surroundings as to make 
creatures inconspicuous on the one hand, or, on the other, to 
look like something which they are not, as, for example, when 
an insect or animal is colored similar to the ground or the foli- 
age it inhabits, or when it looks like another species that is 
Fic. 10. Lower and upper surface respectively of verona feronia (author's 
specimen); general color, a greenish gray 
commonly dreaded and avoided. Such utility is mainly defen- 
sive, though on occasion it might facilitate the approach of an 
animal upon its prey. 
At close range the high colors — red, green, blue, etc. —stand 
out distinctly, but in the distance all colors tend to blend into a 
theoretical white, in fact, a dirty gray, as may be noted when 
viewing a distant scene where the earth and sky line meet 
almost imperceptibly.! Artists know this fact and use the grays 
for distant effects except when under strong sunlight. 
This explains why so many animals that live more or less in 
the open are of a dirty brown or gray color. Of all shades it is 
1 On the principle that all colors taken together make white. In nature all 
colors do not exist in proper proportions and the general result is a gray. 
