72 THE FRINGED TREE GECKO. 



has been compared to that peculiar clucking sound employed by riders to stimulate 

 their horses, and in some species the cry is very distinct and said to resemble the word 

 Geck-o, the last syllable being given smartly and sharply. On account of this cry, the 

 Geckos are variously called Spitters, Postilions, and Claqueurs. 



During the cold months of the year the Geckos retire to winter quarters, and are 

 thought to retain their condition during this foodless season by means of two fatty 

 masses at the base of the abdomen, which are supposed to nourish them as the camel 

 is nourished by the hump. The male is smaller than the female, and the eggs are 

 very spherical, and covered with a brittle chalky shell. The color of the Gecko is 

 reddish gray with white spots. The scales of the back are flat and smooth, and there 

 is also a series of rather large tubercular projections arranged in twelve rather distinct 

 rows. 



CLOSELY allied to these two reptiles is the SPOTTED GECKO, or SPOTTED HEMIDACTYLE, 

 a rather pretty species of Gecko found in various parts of Asia, and tolerably common 

 in India, China, and Ceylon. Sir Emerson Tennent, in his valuable work on Ceylon, 

 gives a very interesting account of this little creature, and relates two curious anecdotes, 

 exhibiting the readiness with which even a Gecko can be tamed by kind treatment. 



" In a boudoir where the ladies of my family spent their evenings, one of these 

 familiar and amusing little creatures had its hiding place behind a gilt picture-frame, 

 and punctually as the candles were lighted, it made its appearance on the wall to be 

 fed with its accustomed crumb ; and if neglected, it reiterated its sharp quick call of 

 chic-chic-chit, till attended to. It was of a delicate gray color, tinged with pink, and 

 having by accident fallen on a work-table, it fled, leaving its tail behind it, which, how- 

 ever, it reproduced within less than a month. This faculty of reproduction is doubt- 

 less designed to enable the creature to escape from its assailants ; the detaching of the 

 limb is evidently its own act. 



In an officer's quarters in the fort of Colombo, a Gecko had been taught to come 

 daily to the dinner-table, and always made its appearance along with the dessert. The 

 family were absent for some months, during which the house underwent extensive 

 repairs, the roof having been raised, the walls stuccoed, and ceilings whitened. It was 

 naturally surmised that so long a suspension of its accustomed habits would have led 

 to the disappearance of the little Lizard, but on the return of its old friends, at their 

 first dinner it made its entrance as usual the instant the cloth had been removed." 



ANOTHER rather curious species is the TURNIP-TAILED GECKO (Thecaddctylus rapi- 

 caudus), so called from the odd shape of its tail, which, when reproduced, is very 

 much swollen at the base, and, with its little conical extremity, has an almost absurd 

 resemblance to a young turnip. It is worthy of mention, that all the Geckos possess 

 the faculty of reproducing their tails when those members have been lost by some 

 accident, and that the second tail is mostly very unlike the original. Before the 

 creature has suffered (if it does suffer) this mutilation, the tail is covered with scales 

 of the same structure and form as those of the back ; but when the tail is reproduced, 

 it is generally supplied with little squared scales arranged in cross series. In examin- 

 ing a Gecko therefore, it is necessary to ascertain whether the tail be in its normal 

 condition or only a second and altered edition of that member. 



The color of the Turnip-tailed Gecko is brown, mottled boldly with a darker tint, 

 and speckled with tiny dots of dark brown. The scales of the back are six-sided, and 

 on each side of the base of the tail there is a prominent conical tubercle. This species 

 inhabits Tropical America. 



THE very remarkable reptile which is figured in the accompanying illustration, is a 

 native of Java. 



The FRINGED TREE GECKO, or SMOOTH-HEADED GECKO, is especially worthy of notice 

 on account of the broad membranous expansions which fringe the sides of the head, 

 back, limbs, and tail. On the body this membrane is covered with scales, and waved 

 on its edges, but on the tail the waves become suddenly deepened, so as to form bold 



