The Body of a Bird 299 
The relation of a bird’s colours to its haunts and its 
habits of life is a subject of intense interest. This is, 
of course, not in the same category as the subjects of the 
foregoing paragraphs, but indeed includes them all. The 
most common class of colours is known as protective. 
These are such that the bird resembles its environment 
or surroundings and is thus given a better chance of escap- 
ing the observation of its enemies. It is evident that, 
in a study of this nature, observation of the bird in its 
natural haunts is of far greater value than any other 
method. 
We find that the majority of sparrows, sandpipers, 
and quail are gray or brown, like the grasses, sedges, and 
leaves among which they live; while the birds which 
spend their lives higher up among the branches of trees 
are greenish, or at least more brightly coloured. 
Many birds which are protectively coloured are dark 
above and white or whitish beneath. The significance 
of this pattern of coloration has been beautifully demon- 
strated by an American artist, Mr. Abbott Thayer. His 
experiment, which is as follows, may be repeated by any 
one: Take two wooden decoy ducks, and place them 
against a sand-bank. Colour one the exact tint of the 
sand, or even coat it with that substance. Repeat this 
with the upper parts of the second decoy, making its 
back darker than the surrounding sand, but grade the 
under part of this one to pure white below. At a little 
distance away, decoy number one will still be distinctly 
seen; while number two will absolutely disappear, merg- 
ing perfectly into its background. The reason for this is 
