D / 



2 CHAMAELEONTES chap. 



possible. At the same time the Chameleon turns round upon 

 its twig, so that the latter comes to stand Ijetween the observer 

 and its own body, which may thereby be completely hidden. When 

 angry, the creature either presents its broadest surface, swaying 

 to the right and left, or it blows itself up and hisses. The lungs 

 are very capacious, and, instead of being bag-shaped, end in 

 several narrow blind sacs which extend far down into the body- 

 cavity, so that not only the chest but the whole body can be 

 blown up. 



The usual mode of propagation is by means of eggs, but a 

 few species allied to Cli. pumilns are viviparous. The time of 

 incubation and of gestation is long. For instance, the pairing of 

 Ch. vulgaris' tiikes place in the month of August. The eggs are 

 laid in the last week of October, about fifty to sixty days later. 

 Sometimes, however, the eggs are retained much longer, since I 

 have received specimens with ripening eggs in July which did 

 not lay until the end of October. The eggs are deposited in the 

 ground and are not hatched until the following February or 

 March, i.e. about 130 days later. The new-born little creatures 

 are snowy white, and cannot change or rather assume colour 

 until after the second week. 



.111 Chameleons are insectivorous and require enormous 

 quantities of food, which must be alive to be taken. Most of 

 them prefer Orthoptera, e.g. Locusts and Grasshoppers, and 

 Lepidoptera. They also eat flies, meal-worms, and cockroaches, 

 but their tastes differ not only individually but also temporarily. 

 They require change of diet. One individual will take cock- 

 roaches greedily, whilst another of the same kind will rather 

 starve itself than touch one. The same applies to meal-worms. 

 It is a great but common mistake to suppose that Chameleons 

 do not require water. On the contrary they drink regularly and 

 often, generally by licking up drops of water or by scooping them 

 up with their lips, shoving the snout along the edges of wet 

 leaves. It is not too much to sav that most Chameleons are 

 short-lived in captivity on account of the want of water. Those 

 which are sold by the dealers are generally in a parched 

 condition. Sprinkling the twigs or leaves of their cage with 

 water works a wonderful change in them ; the dull, apathetic- 

 looking creatures drink and drink, revive, assume brighter colours, 

 and will soon take food, wliich thov have until then refused 



