THE GECKOS. 



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webbed as those of a Tree Frog. The Geckos and all the family have the skin loose, and it is not 

 covered with true scales, as in the Common Lizards and most other Reptiles. There are leathery 

 tubercles rounded and sometimes projecting on the skin, and many minute delicate rounded bodies 

 are found in its thickness. But it is usually soft, and its colours may be grey or yellowish, and 

 there are lovely tints of blue, green, and red in some. The males, as a rule, are more brightly 

 coloured than the females, but in both instances the sombre tints allow the prey to be caught 

 readily ; for the Geckos will climb tc some apparently inaccessible place, wall, tree, or rocks, 



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PLYING GECKO. 



whose colour assimilates with theirs, and will remain perfectly stationary until the unwary insect 

 or spicier comes within the range of their attack. Or they will creep out of their hiding-place 

 and pounce upon larvae, and dig out pupse from crevices. They are fonder of twilight and noc- 

 turnal wandei-ing than moving by day, and they usually feed at night. They have no scaly or 

 leathery eyelids, only a rim of soft lid, but there is a delicate tissue which can be passed over the 

 eyes like a nictitating membrane. The pupil is usually cat-like, and enables the Gecko to hunt by 

 day and night, but in some genera it is round, and eminently adapted for purely nocturnal vision. 

 The tongue is, of course, a short thick one, very slightly forked in front ; and as it moves it can 

 drag up the glottis to the palate, so as to form a clicking or clucking sound, something like the 

 word gek, geko. Hence the name of the genus and family. The teeth are numerous and pleuro- 



