108 



HIGH SCHOOL ZIOOLOGY. 



resemble in liabit and appearance some of the Ignanidfe. 

 Thus there is an Australian species (Moloch) in which the skin, 

 as in the Horned Toad bristles all over with spines, while 

 again there ai'O many active arboreal forms. Among the 

 most interesting of these is the Flying Lizard (Draco volitans) 

 (Fig. 78), a curious little Inditui form in which the foremost 



Fig. 78— Flying Lizard. Draco volitans. 



false ribs, which do not reach the breast-bone, project straight 

 out from the body, and have the skin stretched between them 

 in such a way as to form a serviceable flying membrane, which 

 enables them to drop obliquely through the air in their hunt 

 after the insects on which they live. 



15. Scarcely less well adapted for an arboreal life are the 

 Chamfeleons and the Geckos, the former confined to the Old 

 World, the latter found in the tropics of both Old and New 

 Worlds. In the former the feet are shaped something like 

 those of a climbing bird, the five toes being arranged in opposite 

 groups of twos and threes, the better to grasp the branches on 

 which they perch, while in the latter (Fig. 79), the toes are 

 provided with adhesive discs, which enable them to climb up 

 vertical surfaces such as walls and rocks. Both families are 

 insect-eaters, but the Chamfeleons secure their prey by shooting 

 out the long worm-like tongue, while the Geckos spring upon 

 theirs from a distance. While the Chameleons ai-e strictly 

 arboreal forms and are protected in the foliage in which they 

 live by assimilating their colour to that, the Geckos are also to 



