Part 9

Those birds whose colors have varied in such a way that they have not harmonized with their surroundings,—that have not become adapted to their environment,—are seen by the hawks and are exterminated; but those whose colors were more favorably arranged and more in harmony with their surroundings have been most often undetected by their enemies, the hawks, and have lived and transmitted their useful color patterns by heredity to their offspring. This process going on, age after age, has developed such perfect adaptations of the sunbirds to their environment as the naturalist observes at present.

These examples are illustrations of the fact that those creatures that are most in harmony with their surroundings are the ones that live and procreate their kind. They are cases of the survival of those animals that are best adapted to their environment,—the survival of the fittest; the selection by nature of favored creatures; in short, Natural Selection.

Among our native birds, the woodcock and snipe have such tints and markings as strikingly to harmonize them with the dead marshy vegetation which constitutes their native haunts. The ptarmigan in winter has a light coloration in harmony with the environment of snow, while in its summer plumage it is tinted and mottled in harmony with the color effects of the lichen-covered stones among which it spends a great deal of its time. Young unfledged plovers are spotted in such a way as very accurately to resemble the beach pebbles among which they remain for protection.

The white-headed fruit pigeon (_Ptilopus cinctus_) is a very conspicuous bird when taken from its native haunts. It has a pure white neck and head, black back, yellow belly, and well-marked, deeply-curved black band across the breast, and black wings. It is a handsome as well as very conspicuous bird. It frequents trees that are a species of Eucalyptus in the island of Timor, and which have very open foliage and yellowish or whitish bark. The pigeons may be sitting motionless on exposed branches of the tree during the glaring heat of the day. The yellow and white bark of the tree, the deep blue sky seen through the openings of the leaves, with the intense tropical sunlight casting black shadows of one branch upon another, make color effects that harmonize so completely with the color patterns of the pigeons that they are entirely invisible.[8] Here again the complete color adaptation of the pigeons to their environment has been accomplished through the agency of Natural Selection,—Nature selecting those pigeons most frequently that varied most in the direction of useful color patterns, by concealing them from their enemies, the hawks.

There are some birds that are not protectively colored, which therefore do not possess a local color adaptation. The common raven, which inhabits the Arctic regions, is black instead of being white. The raven is found as far north as any known bird or mammal. It is a powerful and fearless bird, and needs no protective coloring; and since it feeds on dead animals it needs no concealing coloration to enable it to secure its food.

The bright and conspicuous coloration of many birds’ eggs have often been looked upon as a difficulty on the theory of adaptive coloration. But Wallace thinks that a careful consideration of the subject in all its bearings shows that in a great number of cases these colorations are instances of protective coloration. He further thinks that when we cannot see the meaning of the particular colors, we may suppose that in some ancestral forms they have been protective, and, being harmless, have persisted under changed conditions which rendered the protection needless. He states, in illustrating the protective coloration of eggs, that “the beautiful blue or greenish eggs of the hedge-sparrow, the song-thrush, the blackbird, and the lesser redpole, seem at first sight especially calculated to attract attention; but it is doubtful whether they are really so conspicuous when seen at a little distance among their surroundings. For the nests of these birds are either in evergreens, as holly or ivy, or surrounded by the delicate green tints of the early spring vegetation, and may thus harmonize very well with the colors around them. The great majority of the eggs of our smaller birds are so spotted or streaked with brown or black on variously tinted grounds, that when lying in the shadow of the nests and surrounded by the many colors and tints of bark and moss, of purple buds and tender green or yellow foliage, with all the complex glittering lights and mottled shades produced among these by the spring sunshine and by the sparkling raindrops, they must have a quite different aspect from that which they possess when we observe them away from their natural surroundings.” We have here, probably, according to Wallace, a similar case, of general protective harmony, to that of the green caterpillars with beautiful white or purple bands and spots, which, though gaudily conspicuous when seen alone, become practically invisible among the complex lights and shadows of the foliage they feed upon.

Eggs that are not protectively colored are usually white or of some uniform pale color, and are concealed by the birds in covered nests or in holes in trees or in the ground. Many birds lay white eggs in open nests, but even here the devices for concealing them are very effective and interesting. In some cases, such as the partridge, the goat-sucker, and others, the birds have the habit of sitting close and almost continuously on the eggs. These birds are protectively colored. Ducks, pheasants, and other birds have the habit of covering their white eggs with dead leaves or other material when they leave the nest. There are some large and powerful birds that lay conspicuous white eggs in open nests. Such are the cormorants, herons, storks, pelicans, and others. But they guard their nests carefully, and are able to drive away any enemies.

It is thus seen that there are many devices by which birds’ eggs are protected, and these have all been developed through the agency of Natural Selection. For example, those exposed eggs of timid birds that varied most in the direction of protectively colored ones were the ones that were most likely to be overlooked by egg-eating creatures, and those that were least protectively colored, and therefore the most conspicuous, were the ones most likely to be destroyed. The protectively colored eggs being thus, in the nature of things, the ones that have suffered less destruction from enemies, have developed into birds that have transmitted, by heredity, their characteristics to succeeding generations of birds’ eggs. And thus in the course of time have many of the colorations of eggs been developed from simple to elaborate patterns.

Many snakes, frogs, butterflies, caterpillars, and so on, are colored green in harmony with the foliage of the trees among which they live. By being colored green these animals are more or less effectually hidden from their enemies, such as carnivorous birds. If they were not concealed by protective coloration they would quickly be exterminated by hungry and greedy enemies. The green frogs are greatly protected by their colors from their enemies, the green snakes. If they were not so colored, they would quickly be exterminated by these snakes. Even protectively colored as they are, large numbers of them are caught by the snakes, which are also protectively colored and keener witted. It may be stated that the protectively colored frogs are hunting for their food, the protectively colored insects; but, at the same time, they try to avoid their protectively colored enemies, the snakes, though they are often caught; the protectively colored snakes are hunting for their food, the frogs, but, in their green surroundings, endeavor to avoid their enemies, the reptile-eating birds, though often unsuccessful. And so on, from day to day, the tragedies of the animal world are enacted.

It may be well to pause a moment here and ask why it is that animals are not completely exterminated which are thus perpetually being persecuted and preyed upon by stronger foes. Why, for instance, are any frogs left in a green locality, when they are so eagerly sought for by their enemies, the snakes? What are the factors that permit the average or normal number of them to exist in the given locality? The most important of them have already been referred to separately, but it will be useful to recapitulate, briefly, a few of them now. One of the most important of them is the tendency of the frogs to increase in geometrical ratio. In the breeding season great numbers of young are brought into the world, thus reinforcing the depleted ranks of the adults. Another factor is the instinctive effort of each frog to avoid its enemies, and their protective coloration greatly facilitates their concealment and escape. Another factor is the circumstance that the snakes also have enemies. They must be wary and careful in hunting prey lest they be unduly exterminated by their foes, the snake-eating animals. Then another factor is the alternating day and night, by which the warfare, offensive and defensive, must be periodically checked. Then again, the hibernating season, winter, checks or rather suspends the life-destroying crusades. It may thus be recognized that many complex factors occur to explain the circumstance that a given locality generally contains the normal number of individuals that constitute the species of frogs.

The complex factors at work in these relations and inter-relations of animals and plants are so nicely balanced that with a comparatively stable environment the number of species of the different classes of animals may remain more or less constant. But suppose one of these factors is profoundly diminished, such, for instance, as a great diminution in the number of the snake-eating birds. Then the snakes, not being much persecuted by their enemies, will be in a most favorable environment; they will increase greatly in numbers; they will be eagerly on the look-out for their food, the frogs; the frogs, being thus unusually persecuted and hard-pressed, will diminish greatly in numbers. Now, this will be a golden opportunity for the insects; their environment becomes much more favorable. The snakes do not bother the insects, but destroy their enemies, the frogs. Therefore, the insects increase greatly in numbers and profoundly affect the vegetation upon which they live and thrive. The injury to the vegetation may thus seriously affect an altogether different class of animals—the grass-eating or foliage-eating animals, like the ruminants.

It may thus be understood how profoundly complex are the relations and correlations of living creatures, and how a disturbance of some of the links in these living chains may very extensively affect the other links. The different creatures referred to above are probably the simplest illustrations that can be given of protectively colored animals. For here we have green animals adapted to a green environment—the green foliage of trees or grass. This adaptation has been brought about by Natural Selection. Suppose, for instance, that the habitat of the _non-protectively_ colored _ancestors_ of the frogs was for any reason unduly crowded by their enemies, the snakes. The frogs would be hard pressed and much persecuted. Suppose that among the young of these frogs there were some that varied in the direction of grass-green or leaf-green colors, while others did not so vary, or possibly varied in the direction of even conspicuous colors, such as black or white. It is evident that the latter groups would be easily detected by the snakes and destroyed, while the green group would frequently escape notice and would thrive and procreate their kind. This process being repeated generation after generation, there would come a time when the given habitat would contain none but frogs with a protective coloration of green. All of these protective colorations of snakes, butterflies, and caterpillars, as well as of frogs, are adaptations. They are illustrations of the survival of the fittest; the survival of those best adapted to their environment—in short, Natural Selection.

[Illustration: PLATE II.—_Kallima paralekta._ A butterfly of Sumatra illustrating the work of Natural Selection: C, butterfly with expanded wings (dorsal surface) which are conspicuously colored through Sexual Selection; B, same butterfly with wings closed (ventral surface) and presenting a close resemblance to a dead leaf, A, through the agency of Natural Selection. B, illustrates the Protective Resemblance of an animal to an inanimate object.]

=Protective Imitation of Particular Objects.= Insects often exhibit a very great amount of detailed resemblance to the leaves, flowers, and twigs of plants among which they live. Those that live on grass are striped longitudinally, while those that feed on ordinary leaves have an oblique striation. There is a larva of a Georgia butterfly (_Sphinx fuciformis_) which feeds on a plant having small blue flowers and linear, grass-like leaves. This larva has a blue head and a green body striated like the leaves. The resemblance of the insect to its environment is very striking. There is another species that feeds on a plant with small red flowers situated in the axils of the leaves, and this larva has a row of seven red spots of unequal size, which corresponds quite closely with the size and color of the flowers. There is a caterpillar in Borneo that resembles a piece of moss with two exquisite pink-white seed-capsules. Its general hue is greenish, with two little pink spots on its upper surface, and it is covered with hair. Its movements are very slow, and when eating it withdraws its head beneath a mobile fleshy hood that it possesses, so that its motions in feeding are not noticeable. When living in its native haunts it is all but impossible to detect it, so completely does it resemble the surrounding moss. Other insects resemble green or dead leaves in all their varieties of form and color, and to show what a great protection such resemblance affords to insects in concealing them from view the following observation of a naturalist in Nicaragua may be related. In that country there are armies of foraging ants that devour every insect they can catch. Among a multitude of these ants he observed a locust that looked very much like a green leaf. The ants, many of them, were continually running over the body and legs of the insect without detecting its character. In many parts of the world there are many butterflies (_Kallima_, for example) the under surfaces of whose wings very closely resemble dead leaves. They frequent dry forests and are rapid flyers. They are rather large, and the upper surfaces of their wings are quite showy, having bluish and orange colors (Plate II). It is their habit always to settle on some twig where there are decaying or dead leaves. In doing so it folds its wings together over the back, thus concealing the gay upper surfaces and presenting the protectively colored under surfaces. The resemblance to a dead leaf is much more striking from the fact that the short tails of the hind wings just touch the branch on which the insect rests and look very much like the stalk of a leaf. From this stalk a dark curved line extends to the elongated tip of the upper wings, thus imitating the midrib of a leaf. On both sides of this midrib are oblique lines that are partly markings and partly nervures, which give the appearance of a leaf with its veining. The head and antennæ fit in such a way between the closed upper wings as not to interfere with that irregular outline which is characteristic of the withered and dry leaves. Often the closed wings are covered with small black dots gathered into circular groups that exactly resemble the minute fungi found on decaying leaves, and it is sometimes difficult to believe that the insects themselves are not attacked by a fungus. Wallace states that this wonderful imitation is most complete, and that in Sumatra he has often seen a butterfly enter a bush and then disappear as if by magic. He states that once he was so fortunate as to see the exact spot on which the insect settled, but even then lost sight of it for some time, and was able to discover it close to his eyes only after persistent and careful search.

The curious and interesting leaf-insects of Java are veined and colored in such a way that, with the leaf-like expansions from various parts of the body, not one person in a dozen can detect them when they are resting upon their food-plants right under one’s eyes. Other insects resemble pieces of stick (Plate III), with all the minute details of branches and knots. An eminent naturalist has stated that after being a practical entomologist for thirty years, he was deceived by one of these stick insects and took out his pruning knife to cut from a plum-tree what seemed to him to be a projecting spur. This spur proved to be the caterpillar of a geometer-moth, about two inches in length. He placed a portion of the plum-tree on a table, and showed it to several members of his family, designating a space of several inches in which the caterpillar was to be found, but none of them could detect the insect until it was pointed out to them. These protective resemblances of living creatures to inanimate objects are beautiful illustrations of adaptation to environment through Natural Selection.

Beautiful illustrations of protective resemblance to particular objects are furnished by leaf-hoppers (insects) in Central America. They resemble the thorny and prickly growths of the plants on which they presumably live. Some of them also resemble gall growths on the plants (Plate IV).

[Illustration: PLATE IV.—Central American Leaf Hoppers resembling the prickly and thorny growths of plants on which they presumably live. Certain of them also represent gall growths on the plants. Protective Resemblance. [Figures collected by Dr. L. O. Howard, from various plates published in the Biologia Centrali-Americana.]]

=Alluring Coloration.= Besides those insects which secure protection from enemies by their resemblance to the inert objects among which they live, there are others whose adaptive resemblance, and therefore concealment, is for the purpose of securing their food,—for alluring their prey. A most interesting case of alluring coloration is that furnished by a wingless insect of India, the mantis. Its color and form are such as to closely resemble such a fantastic flower as the pink orchis. The insect rests motionless among the bright green foliage, being very conspicuous on account of its pink color, and looking so much like a flower that it allures and captures the butterflies which settle upon it.

There is a species of spider (_Thomisus citreus_) of a creamy-white color whose abdomen completely resembles in color and contour the unopened buds of the flowers among which it rests. It has been seen to capture flies that were attracted to the flowers. There is another species of spider that looks exactly like the excreta of birds, and through this alluring resemblance captures certain butterflies. A naturalist has related how, in pursuing a butterfly through a jungle in Java, he was stopped by a dense growth of bushes. Here he observed a leaf with a bird’s dropping upon it, and sitting on this dropping was a beautiful butterfly. Surprised at such a usually dainty and pretty butterfly seeking such inappropriate food, he carefully approached to study the actions of the insect. The insect permitted him to get so close that he seized it by the wings, and to his astonishment a part of the body remained behind as if the bird’s dropping was very adhesive. He touched the dropping to see if it really was sticky, and found that his eyes had been deceived and that what he took for the excreta of a bird was a most artfully colored spider, lying on its back with its feet crossed and depressed closely to the body. The spider had been firmly holding the butterfly.

[Illustration: PLATE III.—Caterpillar, B, of a Geometer Moth (_Prochœrodes transverrata_) on the stem of a plant (_Ailanthus_), A. Illustrating Protective Resemblance.]

A very pretty illustration of alluring coloration is furnished by the common spider (_Misumena vatia_), which is often found spread out upon the yellow heart of an ox-eyed daisy and in like position upon Coreopsis (Plate V). It so closely resembles the flower upon which it lurks that the ordinary observer might well fail to notice its presence. The coloration facilitates the taking of prey and protects the creature from the assaults of enemies (Rev. H. C. McCook). It will be observed from the illustration that the flower is mostly yellow with some red; the same is true of the spider. This case is a very instructive illustration of alluring coloration by which the insect has become a living bait for entrapping butterflies and other insects. Nature has brought about this complete color adaptation, from the variations of myriads of spiders. For those ancestral spiders that varied most in the direction of color adaptation to their environment were less often shunned by shy insects which could serve as prey. The spiders with useful color variations would thus most likely secure an abundance of food, and, thus living, transmit to many of their offspring their useful variations; while those with inharmonious, and therefore harmful, variations would not be so able to deceive their food insects, and would thrive poorly or starve altogether. This is another illustration of the survival of the fittest, the selection by nature of those best adapted to or in harmony with the environment; in short, it is Natural Selection.