ANIMALS IN DISGUISE

Ten chapters describe the natural camouflage of animals, insects, birds and aquatic life. A wide range of facts are presented about inherited and instinctive disguise. This includes protective coloration, masquerading with inanimate matter, Batesian mimicry and counterfeiting, in which spots or stripes are used to look like eyes or horns, etc. Mr. Poling is at pains to remind his readers throughout the book that camouflaging mutations and concealment are the weapons of preyed upon creatures desperate for survival in nature's unsentimental scheme. He introduces the methods and results of many of the laboratory experiments that have been run to establish the exact nature of the disguise patterns. The book is interesting and introductory, with the elementary vocabulary of natural history and biology defined within the text.