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" It is the black shadows of the vegetation that
assimilate with the black stripes of the tiger; and, in like manner,
the spotty shadows of leaves in the forest so harmonise with the spots
of ocelots, jaguars, tiger-cats, and spotted deer as to afford them a
very perfect concealment.
In some cases the concealment is effected by colours and markings which
are so striking and peculiar that no one who had not seen the creature
in its native haunts would imagine them to be protective. An example of
this is afforded by the banded fruit pigeon of Timor, whose pure white
head and neck, black wings and back, yellow belly, and deeply-curved
black band across the breast, render it a very handsome and conspicuous
bird. Yet this is what Mr. H.O. Forbes says of it: "On the trees the
white-headed fruit pigeon (Ptilopus cinctus) sate motionless during the
heat of the day in numbers, on well-exposed branches; but it was with
the utmost difficulty that I or my sharp-eyed native servant could ever
detect them, even in trees where we knew they were sitting.


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