“Show me,” writes he, on page 222 of _The Country-Side_ for March 20, 1909, “the insect-collector who will seek for specimens among the brilliant scarlet poppies. Of what use is the dog rose, with its large discs of pinky-white, to him? On the other hand, does he not find that by far the most attractive flowers are the almost invisible spurge laurel blossoms in February and March, the fuzzy sallow catkins in March and April, the bramble blossom in midsummer, and the ivy’s small green flowers in autumn? Of these only the bramble has any pretensions to colour, and if you try, as I have tried, the experiment of picking off every petal from sprays of bramble blossoms you will find that its attraction to moths does not appear diminished. “The fact that insects do visit many conspicuously coloured flowers does not show that the colour attracts them, when the fact is borne in mind that they neglect others which are equally coloured, while the flowers which they particularly haunt are inconspicuous. Conspicuous flowers _which have abundance of nectar_ attract insects, of course, but so do inconspicuous flowers which have nectar. If they have no nectar, neither the conspicuous nor the inconspicuous flowers attract insects other than pollen or petal eaters, whose visits are not good for the plant. This shows that the nectar attracts the insects and that the colour of the flowers makes no difference.” In autumn many leaves assume bright and beautiful tints. These are not believed to be in any way useful to the plant. The autumnal hues and shades are regarded, and rightly regarded, as the garb of death and decay. Such colours are the result of the oxidation of the chlorophyll or green colouring matter of the leaves. Why should not the colours of the petals of the flowers, which wither and fade long before the green leaves do, be due to a similar cause? The bright colours of fruits are supposed to have been effected by natural selection in order to attract fruit-eating animals. Surely a hungry animal does not require that its food be brightly coloured in order to find it! We must remember that during the greater part of the year most animals have no occupation save that of finding their food. Inconspicuously coloured fruits, like those of the ivy, are frequently eaten by birds. The bright colours of some ripening fruits are undoubtedly the colours of decay. Many fungi and seaweeds have bright colours. It is never hinted that these are of any direct utility to their possessor. Every flower, every plant, every organism must be of some colour. Honey