44 ON AN EAST AFRICAN RANCH [ch. ii 
away that its colouring would seem uniform—that is, 
would, because of the distance, be indistinguishable 
from a general tint, which really might have a slight 
protective value. In other words, while it is possible 
that the giraffe’s beautifully waved colouring may 
under certain circumstances, and in an infinitesimally 
small number of cases, put it at a slight disadvantage 
in the struggle for life, in the enormous majority of 
cases—a majority so great as to make the remaining 
cases negligible—it has no effect whatever, one way or 
the other; and it is safe to say that under no conditions 
is its colouring of the slightest value to it as affording 
it “ protection ” from foes trusting to their eyesight. 
So it is with the leopard. It is undoubtedly much less 
conspicuous than if it were black; and yet the black 
leopards, the melanistic individuals, thrive as well as 
their spotted brothers; while, on the whole, it is prob¬ 
ably slightly more conspicuous than if it were nearly 
unicolour, like the American cougar. As compared 
with the cougar’s tawny hide, the leopard’s coloration 
represents a very slight disadvantage, and not an advan¬ 
tage, to the beast; but its life is led under conditions 
which make either the advantage or the disadvantage so 
slight as to be negligible. Its peculiar coloration is 
probably in actual fact of hardly the slightest service to 
it from the “ protective ” standpoint, whether as regards 
escaping from its enemies or approaching its prey. It 
has extraordinary facility in hiding; it is a master of the 
art of stealthy approach ; but it is normally nocturnal, 
and by night the colour of its hide is of no consequence 
whatever; while by day, as I have already said, its 
varied coloration renders it slightly more easy to 
detect than is the case with the cougar. 
All of this applies with peculiar force to the zebra, 
