mammals attain, except in rare chance moments, to the bright and efflores- 

 cent 'borderland,' the headquarters of the brilliant butterflies and birds, 

 so are there practically no really gaudy mammals. Furthermore, it will be 

 found, in almost every case, that the birds most closely akin, in ways of life 

 and local habitat, to some dull-colored mammal, are themselves dull-colored; 

 for birds are distributed ubiquitously, from their own special realm to the 

 mammals' stronghold, the solid ground below. (See p. 107 of Chapter 

 XIX.) Even outside the forest, the characteristic difference between the two 

 classes, in habits and in accompanying coloration, is maintained. Wherever 

 there is vegetation of any sort, down to lowly herbage, there it is the general 

 wont of birds to feed and fly and climb on top of it, in the light, and amid 

 bright colors, and the general wont of mammals, to feed and crawl about 

 below it, amid shadows and dull colors. This generalization applies even to 

 semi-aquatic birds and beasts. Wood Ducks swim high, and often sit on 

 trees; kingfishers sit on stumps and branches above the water; Purple Gal- 

 linules walk about, erect, on lily pads; and all these birds are marked with 

 rich or brilliant water-colors. Otters, muskrats, beavers, capybaras, and 

 other semi-aquatic mammals, swim either under water or almost submerged, 

 showing only a low line of back and head. When they are out of the water 

 they are always close to terra firma — on the muddy shores, in holes, or run- 

 ning about under the bushes and weeds and tree-roots; and no one of these 

 beasts is brightly colored. But here again we find that the bird tribe invades 

 the mammal tribe's proper realm, and shares its system of dingy colors, 

 though the mammal tribe cannot reciprocate. Thus there are rails and other 

 marsh birds that live like skulking quadrupeds, on the ground below the reeds 

 and bushes, and like them also they lack brilliant colors.* To sum up: on 

 the bare fields and deserts, in the dusky forest shades, and below the taller 

 vegetation in the marshes, there are 'mammal-colored' birds; but nowhere 

 are there 'bird-colored' mammails. (A statement essentially correct, though 

 for absolute accuracy it would need some qualifying.) 



* Except on their beaks, legs, etc., in the breeding season. 

 130 



