44 The Humming Bird. 



of danger, preferring to trust to the assimilation of their 

 plumage with the surrounding objects than to their powers 

 of flight. The females of most birds are of a dull colour, as, 

 if they wore the brilliant dress which a large number of the 

 males do, they would easily betray the whereabouts of their 

 nests. This is especially the case with birds like the peacock 

 and pheasant. 



There are probably no animals which are more effectually 

 concealed from their enemies than the toads and frogs, 

 especially the former, for although manv of them are brightly 

 coloured underneath, in most cases they are dark on the 

 upper parts of the body, and they usually make a small 

 depression in the ground and lay flat in it, when, their backs 

 being on a level with, and of a similar colour to the earth, 

 they are extremely difficult to distinguish. Those species 

 which inhabit swamps, marshes, etc., are usually of a greenish 

 colour, like the slime and ooze in which they live, the only 

 thing brilliant about them being their beautiful eyes, which 

 often betray them to the practised eye of the collector. 



Among fish, the flat-fish, such as plaice and soles, are about 

 the most defenceless, being comparatively slow in their 

 movements, but to compensate for this defect they are able 

 to hide themselves very effectually. As everyone knows, they 

 are brown on one side, which most people call the back, and 

 white on the other, commonly supposed to be the belly. But 

 a close examination of the position of the intestines, mouth, 

 fins, &c., will show that these fish lie on one side, the eyes 

 being the only organs which are in a different place to those 

 of other fish, as they are both on the uppermost side. These 

 fish lie at the bottom of the water, the brown side uppermost, 

 and often covered with sand, the only parts visible being the 

 mouth and eyes ; these latter are rather prominent, so that 

 they remain above the sand when the fish has the rest of its 

 liead buried beneath it, and he is thus enabled to watch all 

 that is going on above him while lying securely hidden. It is 

 only necessary to visit the Fish House at the Zoological 

 Gardens to verify this, as there are usually several buried 

 beneath the sand at the bottom of their tank there. A 

 remarkable means of protection is that of the Torpedo Fish 

 and the Electric Eel (Gymnotus) . The former is a member of 

 the ray, or skate family, and has the power of giving very 

 severe electric shocks to anyone who touches them. 



The Electric Eel is common in rivers in many parts of 

 South America, where they are said to grow to the length of 



