142 TROPICAL SAVANAS 
external resemblance to the secretary birds. The 
Brazilian seriema (Cariama cristata) haunts open dis- 
tricts with scattered bushes, and is a cursorial bird, 
though it roosts in trees. 
There is nothing very characteristic about the 
reptiles of the savanas and hot deserts, but of the 
numerous lizards which occur there one or two may be 
named as showing interesting peculiarities. In the 
sandy districts of Western and Southern Australia occurs 
Moloch horridus, a lizard covered with spines and 
tubercles. It lives upon ants, and has the curious 
power of being able to absorb water through its rough 
skin. This is presumably an adaptation to permit the 
animal to avail itself of the rare showers which fall in 
the desert regions where it lives. 
Somewhat similar in appearance are the ‘ horned 
toads’ (Phrynosoma) of the desert regions in the 
warmer parts of the United States and in Central 
America. They also have a rough and prickly skin, 
and possess remarkable powers of burrowing. ‘The 
animals are assisted in the process by a curious fringe 
at the sides of the body, and are said to appear actually 
to sink into the sand. They feed upon a variety of 
insects, and in colouring resemble the sandy soil in 
which they live. In the hot deserts of Northern Africa 
and the adjacent regions occur the skinks (Scincus), 
which are admirably adapted for desert life, their 
bodies enabling them to move through the soft sand 
as fish swim through water. 
The presence of the lizards named, together with 
many others, speaks to the abundance of insects in 
desert and savana regions. These insects do not, as 
a rule, show any very marked adaptations, but we may 
mention the termites, or so-called white ants, as being 
