1 14 The Irish Naturalist. May, 
A number of pictures representing flags of various nations 
were taken. The light was such that one could read words 
half an inch and an inch in size. The blues in the Stars and 
Stripes were pale, and the red dark — nearly black. The Union 
Jack gave the crosses black, the blue a dark gray, while the 
white became dirty white. The Royal Standard showed red 
as black ; blue as gray ; yellow as dark gray. The dark 
green of the Irish flag and the corner Jack get black, and 
the harp appears light in colour. The I^ion of Scotland looked 
very black, whilst the yellow got pale, two dark lines appearing 
round the border. The American Jack showed white points 
on a dark ground, whilst the Standard showed black and white 
stripes, and in the corner greyish white spots on a dark ground ; 
all this in a dull light of the nature referred to above. One 
may enlarge the series, but enough has been said to show that 
light colours are in some cases scarcely distinguishable from 
white and gray, whilst dark colours are as difficult to distin- 
guish from black. Hence may come a condition in which 
things harmonize with the sky on the one hand or with a 
black background on the other. It is of course scarcely pos- 
sible to draw an animal against a dull background without a 
contrast. I think Ruskin speaks generally against drawing 
figures in a landscape with a background of mountain or trees. 
It is evident enough that the sky appearing through trees will 
disguise gray, bluish, or other pale colours, whilst a shady 
wood prevents dark objects from being seen distinctly, if at all, 
just as much noise prevents one from distinguishing sounds 
agreeable or the reverse ; so that considerations of safety may 
suggest to some animals the advantage of hiding near a place 
whence loud sounds arise. And so darkness or dulness — 
an advantage produced by a different light — helps the disguise. 
The advantages are not learned by those animals, which often 
escape, but become ultimately caught by trying the same 
plan " once too often " for the trained eye of a bird. 
There comes in also the question of brillianc}^ The mean 
standard, under ordinary circumstances, is the colour as it 
appears in a white or pale yellow light, but there are then light 
shades of red and dark shades. These shades, conspicuously 
different in a bright white light and recognizable, are still 
different but not easily recognized when the light diminishes 
