160 GALAPAGOS ARCHIPELAGO. 



a most awkward gait. Except when running down 

 hill, they cannot move very fast, apparently from 

 the lateral position of their legs. They are not at 

 all timorous : when attentively watching any one, 

 they curl their tails, and, raising themselves on their 

 front legs, nod their heads vertically, with a quick 

 movement, and try to look very fierce ; but, in re- 

 ality, they are not at all so ; if one just stamps on 

 the ground, down go their tails, and off they shuffle 

 as quickly as they can. I have frequently observ- 

 ed small fly-eating lizards, when watching anything, 

 nod their heads in precisely the same manner, but 

 1 do not at all know for what purpose. If this Am- 

 blyrhynchus is held and plagued with a stick, it 

 will bite it very severely ; but I caught many by the 

 tail, and they never tried to bite me. If two are 

 placed on the ground and held together, they will 

 fight and bite each other till blood is drawn. 



The individuals, and they are the greater num- 

 ber, which inhabit the lower country, can scarcely 

 taste a drop of water throughout the year; but they 

 consume much of the succulent cactus, the branches 

 of which are occasionally broken oft" by the wind. 

 I several times threw a piece to two or three of 

 them when together, and it was amusing enough 

 to see them trying to seize and carry it away in 

 their mouths, like so many hungry dogs with a bone. 

 They eat very deliberately, but do not chew their 

 food. The little birds are aware how harmless 

 these creatures are : I have seen one of the thick- 

 billed finches picking at one end of a piece of cac- 

 tus (which is much relished by all the animals of 

 the lower region), whilst a lizard was eating at the 

 other end ; and afterwards the little bird, with the 

 utmost indifference, hopped on the back of the rep- 

 tile. 

 I opened the stomachs of several, and found 



