504 M. F. Sumichrast on the Habits of some Meocican Reptiles. 



in large holes dug in the sand. A single excavation sometimes 

 contains as many as ten dozen of these eggs, deposited in it by 

 several females. The same thing is observed in the Cyclur<By 

 with this diflference, that the number of eggs thus deposited in 

 a common hatching-place does not exceed six or seven dozen. 



When taken young, the Iguana is easily tamed, and becomes 

 perfectly familiar with the person who takes care of it; the 

 adults, on the contrary, never lose in captivity their natural 

 wildness. These animals endure a long abstinence without any 

 sensible diminution in weight; in many places, the natives, 

 taking advantage of this peculiarity, keep the Iguanas as provi- 

 sion for Lent for more than a month, after having sewn up the 

 mouth and attached the feet. 



The green Iguana does not seem to dread the vicinity of the 

 alligators {A. lucius, Cuvier) which usually abound on the shores 

 which it prefers for its habitation. The black Iguana, on the 

 contrary, appears to have much fear of them. In one of my 

 expeditions on the Rio Chicapa, I took one alive, and attached 

 it to the prow of the canoe ; the animal, having succeeded in 

 freeing itself from its bonds, immediately threw itself into the 

 water, in order to gain the shore ; but, at the moment of its 

 arrival, perceiving an alligator stretched in the sun on a small 

 sandy beach, it returned towards the boat with signs of the 

 most lively fear. On this same occasion I had most striking 

 ocular proof of the tenacity of life and the muscular power of 

 the Iguanas. Several of those which I shot, although literally 

 riddled with large shot, still retained sufficient strength to run 

 to the river and plunge into it, after having tumbled down from 

 the tops of the trees on which they were stretched in the sun, 

 a height of twenty or thirty feet. 



Genus Basiliscus, Latreille. 



Basiliscus vittatus,^ iegm. 



' Pasarios ' of the Mexicans, ' Zumbichi ' of the Zapotecs, 



This charming animal, which does not in any way resemble 

 in its habits the fabulous creature to which the ancients gave 

 the name of Basilisk, is common on the margins of nearly all 

 the rivers of the warm and temperate regions of Mexico. It is 

 in the spring, in the breeding-season, that its observation is 

 most easy ; and it is then also that the male especially attracts 

 attention, on account of the elegance of his form, the vivacity of 

 his colours, and the grace of his movements. As soon as the 

 sun has warmed the air, he quits his nocturnal retreat, and 

 commences the pursuit of his prey. If the dry trunk of a tree 

 yises from the margin of the water, we may be almost certain of 



