New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1911-06-10
THE ARMOR OF THE WILD
Why Animals Conceallng coior'
alton Has Not Been Recognized.
BY A. H. Thayer.

concealing coloration 1 say: Ihus d.
tho crucial moments in the lives OF AMI
mails. when they are on the verge "a
catching. or being caught. sight Is con'-
monty the indispensable sense. IL Is LUZ
those moments that their coloratioh Is
best adapted, and, when looked at from
the point of view Of enemy or prey as
the case may be, proves TO be opii'c'a
tive"
For want Of digesting this keynote Oh
tho hook many of our reviewers have re-
ceived it with a most childish mlsappre-
hension. The dusky night-hawk darby
silhouetted against the sky as ne dashes
about over head is good example Oh
this KEYNOTE, which, in one shape or an
other. is universal in the amman klhs-
dom. Had the critics Of our book never
seen this bird crouched on the rock one
would talk to deaf cars in. telling them
that all the while he is so frankly dis
plaving himself in the sky he IS con-
cenIingIy coIorcd colored bird, because mis-
colors, so conspicuous up there, wnere ne
IS safe. absolutely efface him when ne
crouches on the bare rock in danger
from hawks and foxes-i G.. rhere ne
needs to be concealed.
The zebra and the African antelopes'
the peacock and the bobolink are all
conspicuous In situations and from
points of view rhere they are SAFE and
ALL. like the night hawk. marvels OF con-
cealing coloration in situations where
| concealing coloration is Of use to them.
When naturallsts hear us say that
concealing coloration Is unirfrsai (among
species that catch or are caughD they
are startled out of their senses. Yet
they know so well that anatomical adap-
tation to habits is obvious throughout
the animal kingdom, that they conf
IDENTIFY read in the structure of any ami
nal his general habits and haunts
They say that the tiger is built FOR
springing on his prey, pulling it down
and bearing it away, and not for hroWs-
ing or flying. That a giraffe is built Tor
browsing on high leaves. and not for
rapacity; that a deer is built for graz
ing and swift flight; swallows. swifts
and vutures, for soaring and not Tor
footracing; that an owls eyes are built
for taking in all possible light vibra-
tions at night when these are scanty, and
in daylight get too much. Now, though
our public knows all this by heart,
great many readers have recoiled from
our presentation Of the very same prin-
ciple in the matter Of animals costume.
Can any Of them explain to us how the
universal law that you can't stretch
your circle I'm one direction without mar
rowing IL in the other could give place
i'm one department to some other law?
If adaptation to each animals greatest
need is everywhere else. and everywhere
else at the expense Of other adaptations,
how could il fail to be the same with his
colors when they prove to be so able
somewhere to conceal him? Yet every
word Of all the opposition to our book Is
equivalent to answering the anatomist,
irrelevantly. that the swift can't walk
the deer can't seize. or tear. or climb.
7. the color anatomist, tell people that
from the peculiar viewpoint Of aquatic
animals or, ont in his open lagoons.
from crcry point, the red famngo is
marvellous picture of dawnsky. and
they retort, irrelevantly, that he Is red
all day. too-they have seen him gor-
geously bright thousand times l
tell them that, looked little up at in
fruit tree red macaw Is marvellous
picture Of fruit, sky and leaves and they
retort that they have noticed only his
brilliancy. In point OF fact. the keepers
I'm the Bronx 200 have begun to notice
that it is extraordinarily difficult to de-
tect these macaws when they climb at
large among the trees Of the park, and
the same thing is constantly reported by
collectors in South America.
When the anatomist tells of the tigers
peculiar powers. would II not be more
intelligent to 30 rih this anatomist and
see the tiger perform these things than
to exclaim What nonsense. A tiger
cannot fly, nor catch fish like an otter,
nor eat grass like a deer? 1t is because
the swift is built for soaring that he
can't walk, because the deer Is built for
grazing and speed that he can't seize
and tear because the woodcock is built
for probing wet earth and needs. there
fore, a long. straight beak, that he has
not a hooked one. Likewise. it Is be-
cause the animals costume vanishes
against one background that naturalists
sec him conspicuous against others.
Every picture In our book and every
statement of other unillustrated cases Is
simply n record of the concealing effect
Of color adaptation 10 certain back
ground. In every case this background
proves to he essentially such a one as
the animals enemy or prey Will see him
against. People say. for instance, that
we are trying to prove that flamlngo's
colors are for conceament. We are
simply presenting the fact that at the
| two margins OF his nocturnal feeding.