EIGHTH ANNUAL REPORT. 151 
mals, birds and eggs, the Monitors will eat lizards and snakes. 
These reptiles are entirely carnivorous. 
The Tegu, or Teguexin, of tropical South America, is another 
carnivorous species exhibited in the Reptile House. It differs 
from the preceding reptile by its lack of agility. This lizard is 
fond of eggs, but does not swallow them entire. It breaks the 
shell in its exceedingly powerful jaws, and laps up the contents, 
an operation for which it is well provided by the possession of a 
broad, forked tongue. The tongue is covered with minute papil- 
le, to which the substance of the egg readily adheres, and is thus 
conveyed into the creature’s mouth. This lizard will also eat 
young birds and mammals, and is insectivorous as well. Struc- 
turally it is ill provided for the chase of active prey. Strictly 
carnivorous species form a small minority of the Lacertilians. 
Insectivorous Species.—Lizards of insectivorous habits consti- 
tute the majority of the Lacertilia, and in securing their food 
they employ many methods. 
The Anolis (Anolis carolinensis), of the Southern States, is 
provided with broad, adhesive digits, and by leading an arboreal 
life it is able to feed largely upon flying insects (Diptera), for 
the capture of which it is well fitted. Its method of procuring its 
prey resembles the stealthy, stalking manceuvres of the feline ani- 
mals, followed by a quick rush when within a distance that make 
capture possible. The writer has many times watched these lit- 
tle creatures hunting along sunny spots where flies are numerous, 
and noted their great caution in approaching the quarry. After 
carefully stalking to within a few inches of the insect, like a cat 
stealing toward a bird, the lizard pauses and prepares for a rush. 
Such is the momentary tension as it prepares to dart forward, 
that the little creature may be seen to quiver in the intensity of 
preparation. So surely does it calculate, and so agile is the move- 
ment, that the insect rarely escapes. When the prey is cap- 
tured it is well crushed by an irregular and snappy mastication 
before it is swallowed. The lizards of the Family Geckonide 
possess adhesive pads on the digits, and stalk insects in the same 
fashion as the Anolis. 
Many of the thick-tongued lizard swallow their prey in the 
rapid fashion of the frogs. The Horned “Toads” are an example 
of that manner of feeding. In fact, these lizards pick up their 
prey by a quick protrusion of the glutinous tongue, and swallow 
it with a gulp in exactly the same fashion as the toad. 
The insectivorous species which are not provided with suckers, 
or adhesive foot pads, produce more noise with their claws in 
progressing, and feed less upon the dipterous insects. They ap- 
