560 FAMILY IGUANLIXE; ANOLIS ; BASILISK. 



woods and rocky places ; and running, leaping, and climbing 

 with singular address and rapidity. It is very timid and harm- 

 less ; and when under the influence of fear or other excitement, 

 the dewlap beneath its throat becomes inflated, and the tints of 

 its skin change with great celerity. In the structure of its feet, 

 it bears some resemblance to the Geckos ; and like them, it 

 feeds chiefly on insects, although it also subsists in part upon 

 vegetable substances. The largest species of this genus (of 

 which several abound in the West India Islands) is not above a 

 foot in length. Another genus of this family has received the 

 name of Basilisk ; a term that was applied by the ancients to 

 a monster, which existed only in their own imaginations, yet of 

 which the most detailed accounts have been transmitted to us. 

 The name was derived from a Greek word, signifying royalty ; 

 and the animal was represented as the king of the Serpents, 

 with a regal crown upon its head, blighting the herbage with its 

 breath, and striking dead with a glance of its eye. It was 

 described as being eight feet long, and as having two large scales 

 for wings. The idea of such an animal could not have originated 

 in the harmless little creatures to which the name is now applied ; 

 since these were not known to the ancients. But the term 

 has been retained, on account of the crest or projection on the 



FIG. 334. MITRED BASILISK. 



head by which they are characterised. The Mitred Basilisk is 

 an inhabitant of Guiana, Martinique, and the tropical portions 

 of South America. In its general form and habits, it is not 

 unlike the Iguanas; but it is more aquatic, and swims with 

 great address by means of the lateral motions of its finny tail. 



