CHAPTER IV. 



CHAMELEONS AND TUATERA. 



CHAMELEONS. 



rTIHE CHAM.ELEONS differ in so many important 

 I structural points from the ordinary lizards 

 that they are usually regarded now by 

 scientists as a distinct reptilian sub-order. The 

 essential characters, externally recognisable, that 

 serve to distinguish the chamaeleons are : 

 Firstly, the extraordinary development of their 

 worm-like extensile tongue, the tip of it club- 

 shaped and highly viscous, and the shaft cylin- 

 drical and as elastic in texture as india-rubber. 

 Adapted for the special object of catching flies, 

 this organ can be projected from the mouth 

 to a distance of 6 or 8 inches or more with 

 lightning-like rapidity, and rarely misses its 

 quarry. Comparing small things with great, 

 the chamseleon's tongue and its action might be 

 likened to a schoolboy's popgun, having its pellet 

 secured to the barrel by a long elastic ligament. 

 Presuming further that the pellet is covered 

 with a viscid secretion such as bird-lime, and 

 that the object shot at is hit and brought back 

 to the shooter's pocket by virtue of the liga- 

 ment's intrinsic elasticity, we have an almost 

 veritable replica of the chameleon's fly-catching 

 apparatus. The second remarkable structural 

 peculiarity of the chamaeleon is the independent 

 relationship of the two eyes. The eyes them- 

 selves are unlike those of any other lizards ; they 

 are large, prominent, skin-covered cones, perforated 

 only at their extreme apex for the minute pupil- 

 opening: while one eye may be fixed on an 

 object in front of it, the other may be rolling 

 around in search of a second quarry. This 

 independent capacity of vision, while peculiar 

 among reptiles to the chamaeleon, is common to 

 many fishes, such as blennies and flat-fishes. A 

 third anomaly in the chamseleon's structure is 

 the character of the feet; these resemble those 

 of a parrot, the toes being bound together in 

 two opposable bundles. In the fore foot the 

 inner bundle contains three and the outer one 

 two toes only, while in the hind foot the order 



581 



Photo by W. Saville-Kent, F.Z.S. [Mitford-on-Sea. 



CHAMELEONS ASLEEP. 



The tail of the sleeping chamseleon is frequently coiled spirally like 

 the proboscis of a butterfly. 



Photo ly W, SavMe-Kent, F.Z.S.] [Milford-on-Sta. 



A CHAMELEON IN A RAGE. 

 Puffing and hissing at an approaching intruder. 



