Ill 
PROTECTIVE RESEMBLANCES AMONG ANIMALS 
39 
Special Modifications of Colour 
The conformity of tint which has been so far shown to 
exist between animals and their habitations is of a somewhat 
general character; we will now consider the cases of more 
special adaptation. If the lion is enabled by his sandy 
colour readily to conceal himself by merely crouching down 
upon the desert, how, it may be asked, do the elegant markings 
of the tiger, the jaguar, and the other large cats, agree 
with this theory ? We reply that these are generally cases 
of more or less special adaptation. The tiger is a jungle 
animal, and hides himself among tufts of grass or of bamboos, 
and in these positions the vertical stripes with which his 
body is adorned must so assimilate with the vertical stems of 
the bamboo as to assist greatly in concealing him from his 
approaching prey . 1 How remarkable it is that besides the 
lion and tiger, almost all the other large cats are arboreal in 
their habits, and almost all have ocellated or spotted skins, 
which must certainly tend to blend them with the background 
of foliage ; while the one exception, the puma, has an ashy 
brown uniform fur, and has the habit of clinging so closely 
to a limb of a tree while waiting for his prey to pass beneath 
as to be hardly distinguishable from the bark. 
Among birds, the ptarmigan, already mentioned, must be 
considered a remarkable case of special adaptation. Another 
is a South American goatsucker (Caprimulgus rupestris), which 
rests in the bright sunshine on little bare rocky islets in the 
Upper Rio Negro, where its unusually light colours so closely 
resemble those of the rock and sand that it can scarcely be 
detected till trodden upon. 
The Duke of Argyll, in his Reign of Law, has pointed out 
the admirable adaptation of the colours of the woodcock to 
its protection. The various browns and yellows and pale 
ash-colour that occur in fallen leaves are all reproduced in its 
plumage, so that when, according to its habit, it rests upon 
the ground under trees, it is almost impossible to detect it*. 
In snipes the colours are modified so as to be equally in 
harmony with the prevalent forms and colours of marshy 
vegetation. Mr. J. M. Lester, in a paper read before the 
1 This suggestion has been since confirmed. See Darwinism , p. 199. 
