REPTILES. 399 



become green emeralds, and quicker than one can write flash into the pecu- 

 liar blue of the turquoise." 



This chameleon — for so custom compels us to call it — is a small form 

 with a body rarely four inches in length, and with a tail which stretclx ss 

 out behind to twice that distance. It is a most familiar animal all through 

 the southern states as far north as South Carolina. It makes a most 

 engaging pet, so quick is it in its motions, and so wonderful are its color- 

 changes. The general features can be seen from the cut, the color-changes 

 have already been described ; but there remains to be mentioned the dew- 

 lap under the throat, which the animal is capable of inflating to a consid- 

 erable extent when excited. In its color this offers a most striking contrast 

 to the rest of the body, for it is either a rich orange, or more frequently a 

 vivid scarlet. 



The chameleons live in the forests and shrubbery, and insects form the 

 bulk of their diet. True chameleons, as we shall soon see, have a long, 

 adhesive tongue, which can be thrust out like that of a toad to capture 

 insects for food ; but not so this form. It depends solely on the quickness 

 of its own motions. A few stealthy steps, and then a sudden jump, and 

 the fly is safe within the mouth. These insect-devouring habits render these 

 animals of great value, and in their native country they are protected. It 

 has, however, says Dr. Shufeldt, " an uncompromising enemy in the domes- 

 tic cat. This animal, I have been informed on undoubted authority, will, 

 when the opportunity presents itself, pass anything, — meat, birds, and 

 even fish, — if there is the slightest chance of securing one of these lizards, 

 of which they seem to be so inordinately fond. The cat will stalk one, 

 just as we have seen them attack some unsuspecting sparrow. Should 

 the lizard be on the trunk of a tree, and low down near the ground, and 

 the cat miss it in her spring, she will frequently, in her disappointment, 

 chase it up the tree, where, of course, the reptile wins in such an unequal 



race." 



There are numerous other lizards in the warmer portions of the United 

 States which present a more or less close similarity to the form just men- 

 tioned. Some, however, are much different in their general appearance, but 

 none excel the ' horned toad ' in this respect. Horned and spined they are, 

 toads they are not ; but still it is useless to protest against popular nomen- 

 clature, and so horned toads they will in all probability remain until the 

 end of the chapter. All of them are confined in their distribution to the 

 great plains of the West, and thence south into the tropics. Their colors, 

 various shades of brown, are well adapted to conceal them from the obser- 

 vation on the arid spots which they frequent, and their power of simulat- 

 ing death is another element in their security. 



