PATTERNS ON LIVING ANIMALS 
33 
though of less complex form, may almost be counted 
on the fingers of the hand, and are applied with the 
same careless profusion to the adornment of creatures, 
like and unlike, without distinction, though the range 
is in most cases far more limited than in that of the 
peacock-eye. The most perfect form of the cup-and- 
ball pattern, which is seen in the feathers of the Argus 
pheasant, seems only to reappear on the wings of the 
Brahma moth, and of the eyed tortoise, though in 
one or two other small tortoises the effect of the ball 
ornament is produced by an actual embossing of the 
shell. Yet even in this case, not only is the form of 
the pattern reproduced, but also the beautiful brown 
colouring, which, by its soberness and exquisite grad- 
ation, produces the effect of low relief in monochrome. 
The wave-line, the spot, the scale-pattern, the bar- 
pattern, and, in rare instances, a chequer or diaper in 
black and white, almost exhaust the list of other 
natural patterns, and these, like the peacock-eye, recur 
in non-allied species in exactly the same arrangement, 
not only of form, but of colour. A most effective 
spot-pattern is that in which a rich chestnut ground 
is covered with minute white or cream-coloured spots. 
The result is most rich and beautiful, and it seems to 
be reserved for use in highly-decorated creatures of 
any class or family. It is seen at its best on the breast 
of the lovely harlequin-duck, in which the whole 
surface shines like enamel. But exactly the same 
pattern in the same colours appears on the neck of 
such a widely-different species as the chestnut-eared 
