i66 THE COURTSHIP OF ANIMALS 



some birds. Among reptiles it is a common feature. A 

 good illustration of this is furnished by the Moustached 

 Lizard {Phrynocefhalus mystaceus), a native of Southern 

 Russia. When violently excited it raises itself on its 

 hind legs, curls and uncurls its tail, and opens its mouth 

 to its widest extent, presenting, to our eyes, a quite fear- 

 some aspect. This effect is immensely increased by the 

 fact that the corners of the mouth are provided with flanges 

 of skin, which at this time swell up into crescentic plates, 

 the inner borders of which pass gradually into the rosy 

 lining of the mouth, thereby causing it to appear much 

 wider than it really is. So far this display has been wit- 

 nessed only when the animal is under the influence of 

 fear. But since we find that birds will make similar dis- 

 plays, both when under the stimulus of fear and that of 

 sex, we may assume, with no little degree of certitude, 

 that the same applies in the case of the reptiles, for the 

 origin of the ornaments is almost certainly to be attributed 

 to the same gland secretions which produce the secondary 

 sexual characters of birds and beasts. 



This, however, is no mere assumption, for we have 

 some positive evidence as to the association of bright 

 coloration with " courtship," which has been furnished 

 by Mr. Annandale, a naturalist of long experience and 

 having a first-hand acquaintance with tropical life. He 

 has given us a lively description of the courtship of the 

 Malayan Lizard (Calotes emma). " The males," he says, 

 " are very pugnacious, and change colour as they fight. 

 At the time of courtship a curious performance is gone 

 through by the male, the female remaining concealed in 

 the foliage hard by. He chooses some convenient station, 

 such as a banana-leaf, or the top of a fence, and advances 

 slowly towards the fcmgle. His colour is then pale 



