Habitually to scrutinize the scene point by point would change an Accipiter's 

 or a Flycatcher's life from a sufficiently easy to a most difficult one, such as 

 would bring him near the starvation point, since he would necessarily bestow 

 a large amount of his time in searching the wrong place, while his eyes no 

 longer commanded the whole scene. The very position of Hawks' and Fly- 

 catcher's eyes seems to prove all this to be true, since they face one eye to the 

 left and one to the right, and therefore commonly regard two different scenes. 

 No one can suppose that such a bird performs a feat of intellect beyond even 

 a man's power, and acutely examines with focused eyes two points at once. 

 An Owl's eyes, on the contrary, not constituting his stand-by sense, but needed 

 at the grabbing-moment, face forward. Also, most interesting to record, the 

 Hawk's eyes, not to be wanting in any service, turn forward, and assume 

 the position of those of the Owl whenever the occasion demands. 



The fact that every pattern in the forest scene is caused by a thing of one 

 color outlining against things of a different color beyond, makes it inevitable 

 that similarly- colored notes on the coats of animals amidst the scene should 

 receive a similar interpretation, and repeatedly pass off one or the other part 

 of the wearer for something more distant than the rest of him, thus conceal- 

 ing his existence. Hunters and collectors will find that these explanations 

 show why they see so few of the inhabitants of the field or forest until they have 

 once flushed them. Up to that moment each bright detail of these animals' 

 costumes has commonly passed for a glimpse of something nearer or further 

 than the thing represented by the rest of their colors. 



The longer one studies the subject of concealing-colors, the greater the part 

 one discovers to be played by the intrinsic obliterative power of strongly con- 

 trasting patterns. This principle is shown by Figs. 104-106 in our book, but 

 should have received much more varied and elaborate illustration. We are 

 forced, now, to leave the reader to make his own further illustrations. Let 

 him cut out of very dark paper or cloth (cloth is best because is shows no light 

 edge) some shape, — like, for instance, that of a butterfly, — and pin it, smooth 

 and flat, upon a smooth expanse of cloth of some very slightly darker color. 



248 



