502 



THE TREE LIZARDS. 



boldly into the air, and sails easily, with a slight fluttering of the 

 wings, toward the point on which it had fixed, looking almost like a 

 stray leaf blown by the breeze. As if in order to make itself still 

 more buoyant, it inflates the three membranous sacs that depend from 



The Flying Dragon {Draco volans). 



its throat, suffering them to collapse again when it has settled upon the 

 branch. It is a perfectly harmless creature, and can be handled with 

 iiiij)uuity. The food of the Flying Dragon consists of insects. 



The last tribe of the Lizards contains but one genus and very few 

 species. From their habit of constantly living on trees these creatures 

 are called Dendrosaura, or Tree Lizards. In these the scales of 

 the whole body are small and granular, and arranged in circular bands. 

 The tongue is very curious, being cylindrical and greatly extensile, re- 

 minding the observer of a common earthworm, and swollen at the tip. 

 The eyes are as peculiar as the tongue, being very large, globular, and 

 projecting, and the ball is closely covered with a circular lid, through 

 wiiich a little round hole is pierced, much like the wooden snow-specta- 

 cles of the Esquimaux. The body is rather compressed, the ears are 

 concealed under the skin, and the toes are separated into tw^o opposa- 

 ble groups, so that the creature can hold very firmly upon the boughs. 

 The tail is very long and prehensile, and is almost invariably seen coiled 

 round the bough on which the reptile is standing. 



The most fiimiliar example of the Dendrosaura is the common Cha- 

 MKLEON, a reptile which is found in both Africa and Asia. 



This singular reptile has long been famous for its power of changing 

 color— a property, however, which has been greatly exaggerated, as 

 will be presently seen. Nearly all the Lizards are constitutionally 



