THU: EGG-LA ^'ING OF A CHAMELEON 113 



The IJ(iy-l(fijin(j o/ a (iKuncleon. 

 \\\ 11. \\. Sr 11 o< 'II. 



On the iiiornintr of tlie 2(Jtli February my native servant 

 drew the attention of niy wife to a fnll grown and much 

 distended olianieleon whicli was frantically trying to dig: 

 a hole in a bare patch of my flower garden. Its arrioii 

 was rathei- ptn-nliar as, being nnable to scratch in the 

 ordinary way. it first formed a small earthen l)a!l with 

 its one f<>re foot, deposited this ball as far back i\i 

 possible, then picked it np with its hind foot and placed 

 it still further back; this constituted a rather i^eculiar 

 double acti(»ii. When it got tired of working in this 

 fashion with the two i-ight feet, it changed to the left 

 and continued the performance. In digging it en- 

 countered a stone, so my wife pushed the chameleon aside 

 and removed the stone and the reptile immediately re 

 sumed its digging. 



By sunset tlic chameleon had dug an inclined shaft 

 over a foot in length, the lower end being about eight 

 inches vertically below the surface of the soil. In this 

 hole the chameleon curled itself up and deposited its eggs. 



Early the following morning it started filling up the 

 hole, completing this by about noon when, although I 

 knew the exact spot, it was almost impossible to see that 

 the soil had been in any way disturbed. There was no 

 trace of loose soil about but bits of grass and leaves were 

 scattered around so that the spot looked exactly like tho 

 surrounding surface. 1 carefully marked the place and, 

 as T did not know the period of incubation of chameleon 

 eggs, I daily inspected it. 



In the meantime the chameleon, now very thin re 

 mained in an adjoining rose bush. Vse found that, owing 

 to the clayey nature of the soil in which it liad been 

 digging, it had a ridge of clay extending from the top 



