. Our search for a wilderness; an account of two ornithological expeditions to Venezuela and to British Guiana . Fig. 20. Yellow Woodpecker. closely, the butterfly vanished like magic. Creeping up toone we secured its picture, the mottlings on its wings merg-ing it with the lichens, and its owl-eyes becoming the paintedfacsimiles of darkened knotholes, or of little atoll-like fungusrings. One is constantly impressed by the abundance and varietyof these protective adaptations. Instead of ones eyes be- 42 OUR SEARCH FOR A WILDERNESS. coming more accustomed and trained in detecting these de-cepti
. Our search for a wilderness; an account of two ornithological expeditions to Venezuela and to British Guiana . Fig. 20. Yellow Woodpecker. closely, the butterfly vanished like magic. Creeping up toone we secured its picture, the mottlings on its wings merg-ing it with the lichens, and its owl-eyes becoming the paintedfacsimiles of darkened knotholes, or of little atoll-like fungusrings. One is constantly impressed by the abundance and varietyof these protective adaptations. Instead of ones eyes be- 42 OUR SEARCH FOR A WILDERNESS. coming more accustomed and trained in detecting these de-ceptions, the puzzles increase, and one becomes suspicious ofeverything. Every few minutes we are halted by a curledleaf which resembles some great caterpillar, or by a partlydecayed fruit which may prove to be a curiously marked. Fig. 21. Owl Butterfly on Cocoa Bark. beetle. Many of these are such exact counterparts that wehave to touch them to undeceive ourselves. After seeing somebats hung in the shadows between the buttressed bases ofgreat trees, we imagine them in every patch of moss or driedleaves. The resemblance to inanimate objects is never violated andoften remarkably heightened by the little creatures of fur, THE LAKE OF PITCH. 43 feather, scale or armor of chitin. The bats never alight in aclose compact mass, but each isolated, with its wings partlyspread, and often extended irregularly, one webbed handhigher or farther out than the other, thus presenting a dull,irregular outline, at which we should never have lookedtwice, had not the little beasties become frightened andflown. A butterfly (Peridromia feronia), mottled and pearlyon the upper side, snaps clicking to a lichened trunk andalights head downward with wings flat. Beneath they arewhite and conspicuous. The inverted position allows thehinder
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