60 JOURNAL OF THE [luly, 



set side by side, say yellow and blue. The effect would be green, 

 and as perfect to the eye as if these two pigments were mingled 

 on a painter's palette. Thus 1 think we find a constitvition in 

 these two specimens of exuviated lizard skin which stands in phy- 

 siological relation to the animal's mimetic functions, in Phrynoso- 

 ma as a monochrome and the superficial situation of the pigment, 

 and in Anolis as a polychrome with the deeper location of the 

 color cells. 



One of my Anoles long outlived the others, getting to know 

 us, and even to take flies from our fingers. We called him No- 

 lie, When awake, especially if he were active, the color was a 

 sombre gray or brown ; but if taking a siesta he would put on a 

 suit of green. In his night sleep this would be often a frosted 

 pea-green, very rich, having a sort of bloom not unlike that of 

 oxidized bronze. The Anoles belong to the family Iguanida, 

 and, like the large Iguanas, they have a fold under the throat, 

 which, though imperceptible for the most part, can be suddenly 

 developed into a dewlap of large size and of flaming color. I 

 have seen Nolie wake from sleep, perhaps from an amatory dream, 

 for he would assume his gayest courting suit, a vivid green, with 

 here and there a tint of orange, and in some places the green 

 would be nearly blue, and that improvised dewlap in blazing 

 scarlet — a cravat perfectly stunning for color and dimensions. 

 Indeed, the suddenness of the development and the intensity of 

 the color were simply remarkable. One day he got out of his 

 cage, and a prolonged search failed to find him. But when the 

 night set in that whitish-green gave him away, it was in such 

 marked contrast with the rung of the black-walnut chair to which, 

 almost flattened out, he was adhering sound asleep. Here cer- 

 tainly mimicry was all at fault. As my hand seized him the green 

 flashed out and the normal brown took its place. 



It was well no worse thing happened to our pet, for in the shock 

 of sudden fright these little lizards sometimes dislocate their tails. 

 " This is owing to a thin, unossified, transverse septum which 

 traverses each vertebra," the vertebra breaking easily through 

 this brittle plane. A very near cousin to Anolis is our New Jer- 

 sey Pine Lizard.' This pretty little thing will sometimes get on 

 the door sill in the pines, and should the good housewife take the 



'^ SceU^arus undulatus (Harlan), one ol the "Tree Swifts." 



