FLYING ANIMALS. 25 



parachute in its descent from the trees on which it 

 dwells to the water, but later researches do not lend 

 countenance to this idea; and our next examples of 

 flight must accordingly be drawn from the class of 

 true Eep tiles. Among living Eeptiles there is no 

 instance of true night, although two groups are en- 

 dowed with the power of spurious flight. The first 

 example of this is the Flying Gecko, a small lizard, 

 belonging to that peculiar group so well known in 

 tropical climates from their habit of running up and 

 down the walls of dwelling-houses. The Flying Gecko 

 is an inhabitant of Borneo, Java, &c., and attains a 

 length of about 7 inches. Its sides, limbs, tail, and 

 head are furnished with loose expansions of skin which, 

 becoming inflated with air, act as a parachute in the 

 long, flying leaps which the creature is able to take 

 from tree to tree. The true Flying Lizards, which 

 range from India to the Philippines, have their para- 

 chutes constructed after a totally different fashion; 

 the last five or six ribs being greatly elongated to 

 support an expansion of the skin of the flanks, which 

 forms a fan-like wing on either side. The late Prof. 

 Moseley described these lizards in the Philippines as 

 flying so rapidly from branch to branch that the ex- 

 tension of their parachutes could scarcely be observed ; 

 and also states that some kept on board ship were in 

 the habit of flitting from one leg of the table to 

 another. 



Since the extinct Flying Dragons or Pterodactyles 

 of the Mesozoic epoch, which are the only reptiles 



