Page:The Zoologist, 4th series, vol 3 (1899).djvu/581

Rh a similar experience:—"In the case of the Giraffe which is invariably met with among venerable forests, where innumerable blasted and weather-beaten trunks and stems occur, I have repeatedly been in doubt as to the presence of a troop, until I had recourse to my spyglass, and on referring to my savage attendants I have known even their optics to fail, at one time mistaking these dilapidated trunks for camelopards, and again confounding real camelopards with these aged veterans of the forest." Mr. Vaughan Kirby says: "They stand perfectly still, not even swishing their tails like wildebeeste, and thus bringing about instant recognition; their mottled or dark colour, great height, and comparatively narrow bodies give them a striking resemblance to the many old vari-coloured relics of the forest, blasted by lightning or by bush-fires." Col. Pollok attributes the same habits to the Indian Elephant (Elephas indicus):—"If nature has not given intellect to these animals, it has given them an instinct next thing to it. One has only to hunt them in their wilds to learn how wonderfully Providence has taught them to choose the most favourable ground, whether for feeding or encamping, and to resort to jungles where their ponderous bodies so resemble rocks or the dark foliage that it is most difficult for the sportsman to distinguish them from surrounding objects." Gordon Cumming relates a similar experience in South Africa with regard to Elephas africanus:—"The ashy colour of his hide so corresponds with the general appearance of the grey thorny jungles which he frequents throughout the day, that a person unaccustomed to hunting Elephants, standing on a commanding situation, might look down upon a herd and fail to detect their presence." An even stronger case, or more pronounced opinion, as to active mimicry is given by the American naturalist E.S. Thompson, and a Fox is the animal referred to:—"A fire had swept the middle of the pasture, leaving a broad belt of black; over this he skurried till he came to the unburnt yellow grass again, when he squatted down and was lost to view.