94 REPTILES AND BATRACHIANS 



in Morocco, whence the majority of imported specimens 

 are received, attains a maximum length of about ten 

 inches ; it has the casque strongly raised posteriorly, and 

 is provided with a flap of skin on each side of the back of 

 the head. The tail is a little shorter than the head and 

 body in the Western specimens, a little longer in the 

 Eastern. The colour is usually dark olive with several 

 series of pale spots along each side. 



This lizard is very difficult to keep for any length of 

 time in confinement, for, although it may feed voraciously 

 on small insects and meal-worms during the warm months, 

 it will seldom do so in the winter, refusing to hibernate 

 as is its custom in its native land, and, as the imported 

 specimens are only received late in the summer, three or 

 four months averages their length of life in this country. 

 As in the case of many other arboreal lizards, it will not 

 drink out of a dish, but licks up the drops of water which 

 have settled on the leaves. Forcible feeding, so frequently 

 inflicted on starving specimens, is of no avail, merely 

 hastening their death. Some individuals are very quiet, 

 others more irascible, opening their wide mouth in a very 

 threatening attitude, and, although their teeth are small, 

 they are able to inflict a painful bite owing to the strength 

 of their jaws. 



The Small-lobed Chameleon, C. parvilobus, which has 

 a wide distribution in South and West Africa, and which 

 is very frequently imported to this country, may be 

 distinguished from the common species by having the 

 occipital lobes very small in size and in the casque being 

 only feebly raised posteriorly ; it likewise does not flourish 

 in captivity. 



