SOUTH SHORE OF THE MAINLAND 101 



nieces fasciatus) darts rapidly about in search of 

 insects. When young his tail is blue; when old 

 this color fades and his head becomes red. Another 

 reptilian member of this miniature zoo is a hand- 

 some green "chameleon" (Anolis carolinensis) 

 which leaps and scurries about among the boots. 

 Several spiders spin their webs in the palmetto, 

 attracted by the harvest of insects. One of the 

 wood rats, probably Rattus alexandrinus (an 

 importation from North Africa), sometimes makes 

 its nest in the great leafy crown or among the asso- 

 ciated vines and rubbish. A very slender and 

 beautiful green snake (Leptophys?) glides swiftly 

 and securely among the tangled mass of greenery 

 and a much larger brownish one sometimes stares 

 at one from his home in the tree top. 



When the palmetto blooms there assembles 

 about it a convention of flying, honey-loving 

 insects, butterflies, moths, wasps, hornets, and 

 bees, all eager to share in the crop of luscious 

 honey or in some cases to prey upon each other. 

 This insect gathering brings many birds to feed 

 upon them. Among the honey seekers there may 

 be one or two species of a slender- winged insect 

 of a deep, steely blue with white spots and with a 



