EIGHTH ANNUAL REPORT. 151 



mals, birds and eggs, the Monitors will eat lizards and snakes. 

 These reptiles are entirely carnivorous. 



The Tegu, or Teguexin, of tropical South America, is another 

 carnivorous species exhibited in the Reptile House. It differs 

 from the preceding reptile by its lack of agility. This lizard is 

 fond of eggs, but does not swallow them entire. It breaks the 

 shell in its exceedingly powerful jaws, and laps up the contents, 

 an operation for which it is well provided by the possession of a 

 broad, forked tongue. The tongue is covered with minute papil- 

 lae, to which the substance of the egg readily adheres, and is thus 

 conveyed into the creature's mouth. This lizard will also eat 

 young birds and mammals, and is insectivorous as well. Struc- 

 turally it is ill provided for the chase of active prey. Strictly 

 carnivorous species form a small minority of the Lacertilians. 



Insectivorous Species. — Lizards of insectivorous habits consti- 

 tute the majority of the Lacertilia, and in securing their food 

 they employ many methods. 



The Anolis (Anolis carolinensis), of the Southern States, is 

 provided with broad, adhesive digits, and by leading an arboreal 

 life it is able to feed largely upon flying insects (Diptera), for 

 the capture of which it is well fitted. Its method of procuring its 

 prey resembles the stealthy, stalking manoeuvres of the feline ani- 

 mals, followed by a quick rush when within a distance that make 

 capture possible. The writer has many times watched these lit- 

 tle creatures hunting along sunny spots where flies are numerous, 

 and noted their great caution in approaching the quarry. After 

 carefully stalking to within a few inches of the insect, like a cat 

 stealing toward a bird, the lizard pauses and prepares for a rush. 

 Such is the momentary tension as it prepares to dart forward, 

 that the little creature may be seen to quiver in the intensity of 

 preparation. So surely does it calculate, and so agile is the move- 

 ment, that the insect rarely escapes. When the prey is cap- 

 tured it is well crushed by an irregular and snappy mastication 

 before it is swallowed. The lizards of the Family Geckonidce 

 possess adhesive pads on the digits, and stalk insects in the same 

 fashion as the Anolis. 



Many of the thick-tongued lizard swallow their prey in the 

 rapid fashion of the frogs. The Horned "Toads" are an example 

 of that manner of feeding. In fact, these lizards pick up their 

 prey by a quick protrusion of the glutinous tongue, and swallow 

 it with a gulp in exactly the same fashion as the toad. 



The insectivorous species which are not provided with suckers, 

 or adhesive foot pads, produce more noise with their claws in 

 progressing, and feed less upon the dipterous insects. They ap- 



