m^s mintcv Oav^cn 



takes the weather, no matter what blun- 

 ders are on the thermometer's record ; and 

 of all lizards this little blotch of changeable 

 color is most sensitive to his atmospheric 

 and substantial environment. Riley's 

 tree-frog may have more power over the 

 rain-clouds than my gay imitation of a 

 three-inch saurian— he may have told the 

 whole truth when he squeaked : 



" I fetched her, oh, I fetched her ! " 



and maybe, in sheer despair, the cloud did 

 cry downward : 



'^fyou '11 quit, I '11 rain!" 



But our modest chameleon has no quarrel 

 with the sun, being content to take the 

 warm shine in lazy, basking silence, or in 

 creeping with many a shift of color, snap- 

 ping the insects unaware as they hum and 

 dance amid the leaves. If a norther fall 

 suddenly he will scurry down into the nest 

 he knows of in the palm's frowzy crown, 

 and patiently await the return of pleasant 

 warmth. 



Many birds also have a barometric and 



lO 



