IGUANOID GROUP. 



133 



smooth. The natural colour of the creature is probably green, although specimens 

 preserved in spirit are olive-brown above, and dirty white beneath. The back is 

 marked with more or less distinct blackish transverse bands, while a lightish 

 streak runs from the temple to the neck, and a more defined one from the region of 

 the eye to the fore-limb. The banded basilisk (B. vittatus), ranging from Mexico 

 and Ecuador, represents a second group of the genus, in which the tail-crest of the 



HELMETED BASILISK ( liat. size). 



males is low, and not supported by bony rays. In this species the scales of the 

 under surface of the body are keeled, whereas in the allied B. galeatus they are 

 smooth. In general appearance all the basilisks suggest the idea of lizards upon 

 whose backs has been grafted a fish's fin. As regards their habits, all the members 

 of the genus spend their time either on trees, or bushes, often basking in the sun on 

 fallen stems, and seldom, if ever, venturing far from the neighbourhood of water. 

 Most numerous in the vicinity of rivers, basilisks are, indeed, so common in 

 Guatemala, that the collector has no difficulty in obtaining as many specimens as 



