51O LACERTILIA GECKONES CHAP. 



when the hand is put inside their cage and approaches them too 

 near, they dart off suddenly. When driven into a corner they 

 wriggle and wag their tails, or even raise the latter, perhaps as 

 an invitation to grasp it, in which case it would of course 

 break off. When caught, they emit feeble sounds, and attempt 

 to bite with the mouth widely open. During the moulting, 

 which takes place at least twice a year, in the spring and in the 

 autumn, the skin peels off in flakes ; if, as happens sometimes, 

 the skin upon the lamellae is not stripped off neatly, these refuse 

 to act, and the creature cannot climb until all the old skin has 

 been rubbed off. 



In their native haunts they are very regular in their habits. 

 Favourite resorts of theirs are old olive trees or oak trees, the 

 rough and cracked bark of which affords excellent places for 

 hiding in. Hollow trees are of course preferred. Not a single 

 specimen is seen during the early hours of the morning or in the 

 forenoon ; but when the sun has become broiling hot, and our 

 own shadow passes over the stem of a tree, we become aware of 

 flitting little shadows which jerk over its surface. These are 

 Geckos which had been basking, motionless ; very dark grey, 

 almost blackish, just like the colour of the grey bark upon which 

 the last wet season's moss has been scorched to a black cinder. It 

 is difficult to espy a Gecko whilst it is glued on to such a tree. 

 Only the little beady eyes betray it, watching you carefully. 

 Nothing appears more easy than to catch that motionless thing. 

 You put out your hand and it is gone ; like a flash it has moved a 

 foot higher up, or down, to the right or to the left, just where you 

 least expected it to go, and there it clings on motionless as before. 

 It does not seem to run ; it glides along, dodging over to the other 

 side of the stem and back again. There is system in its motions, since, 

 taking a last leisurely look around, it gently disappears in a rent or 

 hole. Towards the evening, or when the shadows become longer, 

 the Geckos become lively. One after another appears on the 

 surface, upon the tree, or at the entrance of the cave, and they 

 all move about in their peculiar rushing jerks. Spiders, flies, 

 mosquitoes, moths, form the principal diet, and the hunting 

 goes on well into the night. Where a gecko has been seen 

 once it is sure to reappear the next day at the same hour. 

 Those which take up their abode inside a house become almost 

 domesticated. They are strange sights when hunting for flies, 



