112 REPTILES OF THE WORLD 



cage occupied by some big constricting snakes. It 

 was thought that in these quarters they would eat the 

 roaches. This they did at night, even darting over 

 the backs of the slow-gliding snakes with little traces of 

 fear. The approach of the writer, however, was fol- 

 lowed by a scurrying up the walls to dark corners. If 

 a lantern was moved slowly in front of the cage, the 

 middle of which was provided with an upright post 

 that caused a consequent moving shadow, the lizards 

 stubbornly ran into the shadow, steadily following it 

 as if to dodge from the light. The several specimens had 

 their favorite hiding places during the day. One was 

 always to be seen, head downward, on an upright water 

 pipe; another clung to the framework of the ventilat- 

 ing apparatus on the ceiling, and a third always rested 

 on a perforated copper heat-blast — which metal pro- 

 tected the hot-water pipes ; when the latter specimen was 

 forced to leave its sleeping place by the intruding folds 

 of the big snakes, it retired but a short distance up the 

 wall and as soon as the serpent shifted its coil, leaving 

 the coveted spot vacant, the lizard was back again. 



Some of the largest species of the present family 

 belong to the genus Gecko. G. stentor of the Malayan 

 Peninsula and the larger islands, grows to a length of 

 14 to 15 inches and is stout in proportion. The animal 

 utters a fairly loud, sharp cry of two syllables. It feeds 

 largely on insects and lizards, but does not hesitate to 

 devour young birds and rodents if such are discovered 

 during nocturnal rambles. 



Some of the species of the genus Gecko have traces 

 of webs between the toes. This characteristic is extraor- 

 dinarily developed with the single species of the genus 

 Ptychozoon — P. homalocephalum, though not for pur- 

 poses of swimming. There is a wide, membranous flap 



