II4 THE MEANING OF EVOLUTION 
the ground on which they sat, and because they kept 
perfectly quiet while the enemy moved about. This 
process has gone on so long that the toad has come 
to be astonishingly well protected by its resemblance 
to the ground. This likeness it intensifies by its inter- 
esting habit not only of keeping entirely quiet, but of 
dropping its nose to the ground, instead of sitting 
high on its front legs, as it does when not in danger. 
I have noticed that if a snake and a toad be placed 
in the same cage, when the snake approaches to cap- 
ture the toad the toad drops into a squatting position, 
and is very likely to blow himself up until he is 
rounder in outline than he was before. Whether this 
is a deceptive trick which makes him the more resem- 
ble a stone is more than I can say. I do not remem- 
ber having seen our eastern toad do it. I have seen 
it happen a number of times in the laboratory of a 
Colorado naturalist, and it is quite possible that in the 
open country more sparsely covered with vegetation 
than is our ground in the east this inflating device 
may serve the toad more effectually than if it kept its 
own outline. 
Even among creatures far more active than the 
toad and the katydid an inconspicuous color must cer- 
tainly result in distinctly better protection. Everyone 
knows the jay and the cardinal when first he has seen 
them, if only he has a slight acquaintance with their 
