2478 SCALED REPTILES 



escapes notice. Some examples kept on shipboard were in the habit of flying from 

 one leg of a table to another. The females appear to lay three or four oval 

 whitish eggs. 



Among a number of genera, characterized by their more or less 

 " compressed bodies and generally arboreal habits, the numerous tree 

 lizards constituting the genus Calotes may be selected for brief men- 

 tion. These beautiful lizards belong to a group distinguished from many of their 

 allies by the aperture of the ear being open, while they are especially character- 

 ized by the absence of any distinct fold of skin across the throat, by the equality in 

 size of the large keeled scales on the back, and the presence of a large crest on the 

 back and neck; the tail being very long and whip-like. One of the best -known spe- 

 cies is the variable lizard (C. versicolor], ranging from Baluchistan, India, and Cey- 

 lon to the south of China, an exceedingly handsome lizard of some sixteen inches 

 in length, with a very large crest, but so variable in color, when alive, as almost to 

 defy description. It is one of the commonest of the eastern Asiatic lizards, and de- 

 rives its name from its power of changing color, which is especially marked when 

 it is sitting basking in the sun; the head and neck being often yellow, flecked with 

 red, the body red, and the limbs and tail black. When irritated, or feeding rapidly, 

 an allied species (C. ophiomachus} from India and Ceylon turns brilliant red over the 

 head and neck, the body at the same time becoming pale yellow; hence it is popu- 

 larly known as the ' ' blood sucker. ' ' 



Three remarkable lizards from Ceylon, constituting the genus Cera- 



" y n tophora, and belonging to a group in which the aperture of the ear is 



Lizards concealed, derive their name from carrying a more or less elongated 



horn-like process on the nose, at least in the male sex; the neck and 



back being devoid of a crest. One of the species, which attains a length of about 



ten inches, has a horn measuring half an inch. These lizards appear to be very 



rare, one of the species being confined to mountain districts. 



For want of a distinct English title, we are compelled to designate 

 ie gamas ^g members of the genus Agama collectively by anglicizing their sci- 

 entific name. Distinguished from all the previously -noticed forms and their allies, 

 with the exception of the flying lizards, by their more or less depressed bodies, 

 agamas are especially characterized by the exposed aperture of the ear, and the pres- 

 ence of large callous scales in front of the vent in the males. The crest on the back 

 is, at most, but small, and may be wanting; while each side of the throat has a pit, 

 and there is likewise a transverse fold across this part. A sac-like appendage may 

 or may not occur beneath the throat, and the moderately-long tail may be either 

 cylindrical or slightly compressed. Less important characteristics are to be found 

 in the form of the head, which is short and triangular, very broad behind, and 

 rounded at the muzzle, as well as in the relative length and slenderness of the limbs. 

 The head is covered above with small, smooth scales; those on the back are over- 

 lapping and keeled; on the tail the scales may be either simply overlapping or 

 arranged in whorls. 



The distribution of the genus is somewhat peculiar, impinging on Southeastern 

 Europe, and embracing the greater part of Southeastern Asia, as well as the whole 



