416 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1917. 



Florida skink, Plestiodon egregius^ is only 3^ or 4 inches when fully 

 grown. Its body is cylindrical and slender, almost wormlike, with 

 small, weak limbs. It is of an olive or reddish brown color with four, 

 equidistant, longitudinal stripes margined with obscure dotted lines. 

 The so-called chameleon, Anolis ca/'olinensis, takes its common 

 name from its changing color. It is not related to the true 

 chameleons of the Old World so often celebrated in fabulous stories, 

 but belongs to the iguana family and bears a superficial resemblance 

 to a miniature alligator. SiDecimens of this little animal were seen 

 on the screened veranda of the park lodge running about with ease 

 upon the vertical walls and even on the ceiling, to which it adhered 

 by means of its peculiar, padded toes, while it was busily engaged in 

 catching mosquitoes and otlier insects. In its habits it reminded the 

 writer of the geckos so common in dwellings on the island of Guam. 

 Mr. Snyder states that they are very active in the woods when the 

 termites swarm, devouring them in great quantities. Sometimes it 

 assumes a dull, brown color, at other times a vivid green. The males 

 have a throat pouch which they inflate, while uttering a peculiar 

 sound very much like that of a baby alligator, and they have a way 

 of nodding their head that is odd and comical. Unlike the little 

 tree frogs frequenting the veranda, these little animals were very 

 timid, and quickly escaped when attempts were made to capture 

 them. 



SNAKES. 



Among the harmless snakes of the park are two garter snakes; 

 Thamnophis sirtalis, with three, yellow, longitudinal stripes and the 

 more slender Thavvno'phis sackeni, with two, long, lateral stripes and 

 the beginning of a short median stripe on the back of the neck. 

 Both of these species are semiaquatic, subsisting upon frogs and 

 fishes as well as earthworms and toads; and they bring forth their 

 young alive. Two water snakes are found in the sloughs and pools 

 of the Everglades : the " spotted belly " Natrix fasciata, sometimes 

 erroneously called a moccasin, but easily distinguished from the 

 poisonous water moccasin by its yellowish white abdomen spotted 

 with bright red blotches and clouded spots of black and gray; and 

 the so-called green water snake. Matrix cyclajnorif with an unspotted, 

 yellowish abdomen and yellow lips. Both of these species are harm- 

 less, but they simulate poisonous species by flattening themselves out 

 and assuming a threatening attitude when cornered. 



Among the racers or black snakes is the well-known gopher snake, 

 Drymarchon corals couperi^ a variety of the large tropical American 

 D. corais, sometimes 8 or 10 feet long, witli a highly polished, blue- 

 black body, which has given it the name of indigo snake in certain 

 localities. It has a gentle disposition and often lives about houses 



