Page:The Zoologist, 4th series, vol 3 (1899).djvu/579

Rh yet reached the explanation of the colours of eggs; we have only by observation seen—under "natural selection," if you will, or active mimicry—how avian subterfuge has in so many cases combated the pertinacious search of the persistent enemies to bird existence.

Sometimes this mimicry appears only as a survival, and when its character is no longer protective. "The bird which in the arctics long ago lined its nest with green moss or grey lichens may now floor it with flax in Dakota, or pad it with cotton in Texas; and yet in either deposit a solid green or mottled greyish egg in keeping with the colours of 'the old house at home.'" Thus the eggs of the Wild Duck are placed among the green reeds, while those of the Lapwing are with equal confidence consigned to the ploughed field or upland. The Red Grouse can safely leave its speckled eggs among the heather; the Lesser Tern has little fear that its spotted egg will be noticed on the shingle, or the Ringed Plover that its egg will be readily distinguished from the sand on which it is laid. Take Mr. Seebohm's 'History of British Birds,' with its beautiful illustrations of eggs, often so decisive in colour and markings, and then find the eggs in their natural surroundings, and one will then experience how "the whole creation groaneth," or rather the intense beauties and harmonies that have arisen in Nature because she "is red in tooth and claw."

Mammals contribute the same evidence, and the narratives of sportsmen and travellers afford many instances. According to Mr. Buxton, the Sardinian Mouflon (Ovis musimon) was one of the most difficult animals to approach with which he was acquainted. He observes, that "when they are alarmed, or 'at gaze,' they have a habit, or at least the rams have, of placing themselves in the middle of a bush of Macquia, or in the shadow which it casts. The ewes, who are naturally less conspicuous, do this in a less degree." The same authority describes a similar habit in the Barbary Sheep (Ovis tragelaphus), known by the name of "Aroui": "They are constantly within sight and hearing of the Arabs and their Goats, and, having no means of escaping from their neighbourhood, have developed the art of hiding themselves to