Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1910-05-16
THE FIGHT FOR LIFE.
How Nature Aids the Brute Creation
In Struggle For Existence.

In studying the world of animal life
we are at once struck with the many
and diverse tricks which the various
species exhibit in order to foil their
prey and escape with their lives in the
great struggle for existence.
Foremost among these "shfts for a
living is that of protective coloring,
though, one can hardly say that an ami
nal practices protective colorng. Take
for instance, the partridge; see how the
shades of gray and rudy brown of his
plumage harmonic with the tints of its
environment, and consequently how
difficult it is to notice that bird when it
is sQuatting.
During the summer of last year l was
very interested in watching the baby
sandpipers on the banks of the Tay.
There We're several broods; one in parti-
cular l kept under constant observation
through my binoculars. The little
chicks were soon taught to crouch or
sulk at the first sign of danger. and
thus make themselves almost entirely
invisible If one took ones eye Off
them for a few seconds it was almost
impossible $50 long us they remained
in their crouching posture> to rediscover
them, so strong was the protective value
of the coloring of their down
The same protective coloration is very
marked in the case of the ringed plov-
er's eggs, which are generally laid On
the bare shingle of some river side or
beach. One may step on the eggs be-
fore actually seeing them.
In India we find that stripes of the
tiger harmonize admirably with the
lights and shades Of the jungles and
thiCkcts, and that instead of their col
oring rendering these animals conspicu-
Gus it makes them almost invisible---a;
least to the human eye. The giraffe,
again. might strike one as being very
conspicuous; but hunters and naturalSts
tell us exactly the contrary-the vari-
Gus shades of the different patches or
marks on the body breaking up the
light thus rendering these quadrupeds
abnost invisible
There is IN the central hall of the
History Section of the British Museum
ut South Kensington a most interesting
case Of stuffed arctic animals, showing
how in winter their pelts and plumages
turn white. thus assuring them of pro-
tectloH ne pt;tfmlSan anu lHe diiit
fox are both, in winter, invisible among
their snowy surroundings. In the case
of the arctic fox mis- snow-white coat en-
nj les him 10 creep up to the ptarmlganI
on which he means to feed without be-
ing noticed while at the same time he
esCares the wary eyes of the hungry
wolf who may be on the lookout for
meal This is a case in which protec-
tive coIorat;or performs a double duty
In the same museum. side by side with
the al owe, is another case full of spec
irrens of desert birds, which show the
harmony of their plumage with the dull
brown of their Lybian surroundings.
Az interesting experiment was made
by an American naturalist, Mr. Thayer,
which illustrated the value of light and
SHADE as a protective ractor. He hung
two wooden birds shaped like woodcocks |
on thin wire supports, and colored one
of these in uniform tint, coating it
with q little earth. He treated the up-I
per half of tn" second decoy in the same
way. but the lower part he shaded to a
pure white NVher he looked toward the /
two, ut a distance of about 40 or so
yards. the shaded one was invisible,
" bile the one of uniform color stood
out ciearly.-Chambers Journal.