Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1917-05-11

II
limb Of a tree, with wings closed. these
same creatures can hardly b distin-
guished from a lead leaf. 50 closely Is
the shape Of 1t and the brown-veined
texture initiated by nature.
Birds, also-or at least those OF them
which have slight means OF lighting
their enemies with success-are usu-
ally Of inconspicuous coloring and
shape.
Among the animals the commonest
means Of escaping from enemies lies
In deceptive coloring or shape. 1t Is
no accident that the bear of the
SHOWS should be white, nor that he OF
the forest should be brown.
But we must notice here that II an
animal is to survive it must do moro
than escape from its enemies: 1t must
be able to waylay and surprise its
prey. There are few so strong or so
swift as to be able to rely exclusively
on strength or speed for both offense
and defense.
Even the fleet deer, though safe
enough when once he has fair start
Of his enemy, would often not get that
start If his coloring were SO conspicu-
Gus that his enemy could steal upon
him unawares: nor would the strength
Of the lion avail him much II he were
to be assailed from behind.
And in the case Of the lion incon-
spicuous coloring IS absolutely essen
tial to enable him to creep up on his
prey unobserved; his speed would be
quite inadequate to procure his daily
| food.
Even Zebra and Giraffe
Some animals. notably the zebra and
the giraffe, seem to first thought to
upset our theories about defensive
coloring. and to be with their stripes
and spots self-advertised game for ev-
cry f1esheating beast Of the forest.
But Nature always knows what she
is about; and the answer to this diff
Guilty is that from the height of the
creeping lions or tigers eve, three to
four feet nearer the ground than our
own. the variegated hides Of these an
finals blend very confusingly in with
the branches and shadows and sun
beams of the woods, and conceal their
owners as effectively as the uniform
mud-color does the founder.
The leopard also has a spotted hide;
but he needs it for offensive purposes.
to lie concealed on the limb Of tree
until the unsuspecting prey, swifter
than himself, shall pass near enough
| beneath to be within reach or a suuoen
spring.
1t would be hard to find any animal
which does not owe its safety in part
to offensive or defensive coloring; but
there are some examples in the animal
world of receptions of another kind.
The opossum, when he sees an en-
envy approaching is seized by a nerv-
Gus attack resembling epilepsy, in
which he becomes motionless and rig
i i'd SO that his enemy either overlooks
him or considers him too dead to be
good for much.
And the toucan. whose enormous
heak looks grotesquely out Of proper
ton to the rest of his body, has but to
stick his beak out Of his hole in the
tree to convince his enemy that he had
better tackle something a little nearer
his own size. Neither Of these crea-
lures knows what 1t is that saves his
life; if he did, we should have to ac-
knowledge In him an intelligence not
so far short Of mans; but Nature
knows that he inherits a habit which
has beeen protection to thousands Of
his ancestors and is still effective.
Survival Of the Fittest
More interesting than the clever de-
fensive coloring given by Snature is
the manner in which she gave it; and
this is explained when we look into the
history Of the various animals
1t is evident enough that if while
resting upon limb or a twig a butter
fly were a conspicuous object its en-
envy would see it and put an end to its
| existence. Accordingly in the past,
only those butterflies which were
slightly less conspicuous than the rest
of their kind had a fair chance Of es-
Gazing from the birds.
These insects rropagated their kind
who inherited the characteristics of
their parents: ard thus an advantage
In the struggle for existence began. AS
time and generations went on, the de-
tcrmining fact in this Survival Of the
fittcst" vas the degree in which any
Individual possessed inconspicuous
coloring or shape; all those least fav-
cred by inheritance were prey for the
birds
Through countless generations this
differentiation went on. until now we
may sec in museums and collections
butterflies which when Mt rest look
so much like o dead leaf that it is
hard to believe they IRE not such, until
one uses the magnifying glass
And the same laws Of inheritance
and survival has determined the color
ing of all the other beasts, birds and
insects.
Saved by Their Neighbors
AS II for a confederation Of our the
cries, a strange condition exists among
certain hutterf1ies in South America
A large number of a certain shape
size and coloring. all alike according to
appearances. hut actually divided into
two kinds as different structuralIy as
a horse is from COW. live together as
one race.
Scientists were at loss to account
for this, at first: but soon the fact
struck them that one kind was very
much less numerous than the other
Then they observed that the birds
found the less numerous class to be
suitable food, while the members Of
the larger class were entirely unsatis-
factory to them
Further study and observation dis
closed the fact that in the dim past the
two kinds Of insects had been quite
unlike In appearance. but as time
went on the birds passed over those
| - 60