Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1914-09-13

AT one I I'll e TdnCn
where we stopped the troupials, or big
black and yellow orioles, had built large
colony of their nests on dead tree near the
primitive little ranch house The birds we're
breeding
In this neighborhood the naturalists
found many birds that were new to them,
including tiny woodpecker no bigger than
a ruby-crowned kinglet. They had collect
ed two night monkeys--nocturnal monkeys,
not as agile as the ordinary monkey; these
two were found at dawn. having stayed out
too late.
The early morning was always lovely on
these rivers, and at that hour many birds
and beasts were to be seen. One morning
we saw fine marsh buck, holding his head
aloft as he stared at us, his red coat vivid
against the green marsh Another of these
marsh deer swan the river ahead of us; |
shot at it as it landed, and ought to have got
it, but did not
AS always with these marsh deer-and
as with so many other deer-l was struck
by the revealing or advertising quality of its
red celebration; there was nothing in its nor
NAL surroundings with which this colora-
whatever it was always a revealing and not
a concealing effect When the animal fled
the black of the erect tail was an additional
revealing mark, although not of such start
ling advertising quality as the flag Of the
Whitehall
The Whitehall, in one of its forms, and
with the ordinary Whitehall custom of dis
playing the white flag as it runs, is found in
the immediate neighborhood of the swamp
deer 1t has the same foes. Evidently it is
OF no survival consequence whether the run
ming deer displays a white or a black flag.
Any competent observer OF big game
must be struck by the fact that in the great
majority OF the species the coloration is not
concealing, and that in manyit has highly
revealing quality Moreover, if the spotted
or striped young represent the ancestral,
and if. as seems probable, the spots and
stripes have on the whole, some slight con-
cealing value, it is evident that in the life
history OF most OF these large mammals,
both among those that prey and those that
are proved on, concealing celebration has not
been survival factor; throughout the ages
during which they have survived they have
<
alton they may once have had-if any-and
have developed a coloration which under
present conditions has no concealing and
perhaps even has revealing quality. ard
which i'll all probability never would have
had concealing value of any environment
tai complex" in which the species as whole
lived during its ancestral development
Indeed, it seems astonishing when one
observes these big beasts-and big waders
and other water birds-in their native sur
roundings, to find how utterly nonharmful
their often strikngly revealing coloration
is. Evidently the various other survival
factors, such as habit, and in many cases
cover, etc, are Of such overmasterng inn
portance that the celebration is generally of
no consequence whatever one way or the
other, and is only very rarely factor OF any
serious weight.
That evening we reached the junction of
the San Lourenco and the Paraguay, and
turned up the latter. This junction is a
days journey above Corumba.
From Corumba there is regular service
by shallow steamers to Cayuba, at the head
of one fork, and to San Luis de Caceres, at
the head of the other The steamers are
not powerful and the voyage to each little
city takes a week; and there are other forks
that are navigable Above Cayuba and Ca
ceres launches go upstream for several
days journey, except during the dryest
parts of the season.
A Healthy Region.
North of this marshy plain lies the high