EDITORIAL GLEANINGS.
In a Supplement to 'Great and Small Game of Africa,' published by Rowland Ward, Ltd.,[1] Mr. Lydekker naturally describes and figures the Okapi. He writes:—"No European appears hitherto to have seen a living Okapi, and such accounts of its habits as we possess at present are derived from native sources. According to the information elicited from the forest dwarfs by Sir Harry Johnston, the Okapi generally goes about in pairs—male and female—and neither sex has horns. It inhabits only the most dense portions of the forest, and feeds chiefly by browsing upon leaves. One curious problem connected with this animal awaits explanation, namely, the reason for its very peculiar type of coloration, which is almost certainly of a protective nature. The striping of Zebras, as is well known, renders these animals practically invisible in the open at a comparatively short distance; and a similar explanation naturally suggests itself in the case of the striped limbs of the Okapi. If we could imagine the creature living in such circumstances that its body was concealed among foliage while the limbs were exposed to view, such an explanation would fit the case. The darkness and gloom of the densest parts of the forest in which the Okapi is said to dwell are, however, described as being so intense that protective resemblances of this nature would apparently be superfluous. Before a definite opinion can be given on these points it will be necessary for a competent observer to see the creature in its native haunts."
Mr. D. le Souëf has contributed to the last number of the 'Emu' a second part of his paper on "Protective Colouration of Australian Birds and their Nests." We read:—"Honey-eaters vary much in colour, but the males and females do not, as a rule, vary much in markings, but by far the larger majority of hen birds have greenish or dull-coloured backs. Their nests are mostly hanging, and built in varying situations, according to the colour of the bird, and you can generally make a good guess at the shade of the owner's back by the place it builds its nest in: if among green leaves at the end of a branch, the bird will probably be greenish, as, for instance, Ptilotis pencillata (White-plumed Honey-eater); if lower down among the dead branches, grey or brown; and if in very thick vegetation low
- ↑ online copy in Internet Archive (Wikisource-ed.)
