THE PINE-TREE LIZARD. 163 



find the " swifts " on the trestle anything hut swift. It was hy 

 hiding, and not through speed, that they sought to escape, and it 

 proved comparatively easy to capture them with the unaided 

 hand. Often they played bo-peep merely around the timbers, and 

 were readily surprised, so that they ran into one hand as they 

 avoided the other. This proved to be the case, also, when I 

 searched for the lizards in the pine-woods, which were as readily 

 captured when up on trees as were those on the trestle. 



The village boys adopted ordinarily the simple plan of using 

 a thread-noose placed at the end of a short stick. Dropping the 

 noose gently about the neck of the lizard, they lifted the creature 

 slightly, when its struggles at once tightened the thread and made 

 it a prisoner. It was a favorite pet with the children, and, when 

 I asked some of them if it ever bit or snapped at their fingers, 

 they were greatly amused. I lay stress upon this point, because 

 of the rather widely spread opinion that these lizards are venom- 

 ous. It is one with the equally absurd impression, due to igno- 

 rance and belittling prejudice, that all our snakes are harmful ; 

 but a curious feature in this case is the fact that the impression 

 of the lizard being venomous obtains in inverse ratio to the abun- 

 dance of the animal. Where exceedingly rare, the lizard is dread- 

 ed ; while, where abundant, as at May's Landing, it is a favorite 

 pet with the children. 



Probably a closer study of animal life would materially reduce 

 the list of species supposed to be harmful by those who see but 

 little and know absolutely nothing about them, and put an effect- 

 ual check upon those who, taking advantage of the ignorance of 

 their audiences, assert deliberate falsehoods, because more enter- 

 taining than the simple truth. 



As is well known, the pine-tree lizard is quite sensitive to low 

 temperatures. It does not make its appearance in southern New 

 Jersey earlier than May, nor remain abroad later than September. 

 Of course, this is a general statement, and only approximately 

 true, as all such statements must be. Perhaps there can be found 

 nothing more absurd in scientific literature than the frequent 

 ex-cathedra statements — for instance, concerning the movements 

 and range of our birds, as though the latter recognized any other 

 law than that of their own convenience and fancy. 



At May's Landing I found the lizards sensitive even to the 

 ordinary variations of temperature of average summer days, ob- 

 serving that, whenever it was cloudy, they were far less abun- 

 dant, and actually sluggish. On the other hand, the extreme 

 degree of heat to which they are willing to expose themselves is 

 not a very high one, judging from the actions of a large number 

 kept in confinement. 



Fifteen adult lizards were placed in an inclosure in which 



