Cuap)T. FAUNA OF SUBURBS. 9 
seen. The house lizards belong to a peculiar family, the Geckos. They 
are found even in the best-kept houses, most frequently on the walls 
and ceilings : they are generally motionless by day, being active only at 
night. They are of speckled grey or ashy colours. The structure of 
their feet is beautifully adapted for clinging to and running over smooth 
surfaces ; the underside of their toes being expanded into cushions, 
beneath which folds of skin form a series of flexible plates. By means 
of this apparatus they can walk or run across a smooth ceiling with 
their backs downwards ; the plated soles, by quick muscular action, ex- 
hausting and admitting air alternately. These Geckos are very repulsive 
in appearance. The Brazilians give them the name of Osgas, and 
firmly believe them to be poisonous; they are, however, harmless 
creatures. The species found in houses are small; I have seen 
others of great size, in crevices of tree trunks in the forest. Sometimes 
Geckos are found with forked tails; this results from the budding of a 
rudimentary tail at the side, from an injury done to the member. A 
slight rap will cause their tails to snap off; the loss being afterwards 
partially repaired by a new growth. The tails of lizards seem to be 
almost useless appendages to the animals. I used often to amuse 
myself in the suburbs, whilst resting in the verandah of our house 
during the heat of mid-day, by watching the variegated green, brown, 
and yellow ground-lizards. They would come nimbly forward, and 
commence grubbing with their fore feet and snouts around the roots of 
herbage, searching for insect larve. On the slightest alarm they would 
scamper off ; their tails cocked up in the air as they waddled awkwardly 
away, evidently an incumbrance to them in their flight. 
Next to the birds and lizards, the insects of the suburbs of Para 
deserve a few remarks. The species observed in the weedy and open 
places, as already remarked, were generally different from those which 
dwell in the shades of the forest. It is worthy of notice that those 
species which have the widest distribution in America, and which have 
the closest affinity to those of the tropics of the Old World, are such as 
occur in open sunny places near towns. ‘The general appearance of the 
insects and birds belonging to such situations is very similar to that of 
European species. This resemblance, however, is, in many cases, one 
of analogy only; that is, the species are similar in size, form, and 
colours, but belong to widely different genera. Thus, all the small 
carnivorous beetles seen running along sandy pathways, look precisely 
like the Amare, those oval, coppery beetles which are seen in similar 
situations in England. But they belong to quite another genus— 
namely, Selenophorus, the genus Amara being unknown in Tropical 
America. In butterflies, again, we saw a small species of Erycinide 
flying about low shrubs in grassy places, which was extremely similar in 
colours to the European Nemeobius Lucina. The Pard insect, however, 
belongs to a genus far removed in all essential points of structure 
from Nemeobius: namely, to Lemonias, being the L. epulus. It is 
worthy of note that all the Old-World representatives, both tropical and 
temperate, of this beautiful family of butterflies belong to the same 
group as the English Nemeobius Lucina; whilst the few species 
inhabiting North America belong wholly to South American types. 
