THE FLYING DRAGON. 85 



After a while it can be made to know its owner, and will even take flies and other 

 insects out of his hand. Little red ants seem to be its favorite food, but it lives on 

 beetles, and insects of various kinds. 



The head of this curious reptile is armed with long, pointed, conical spines, set 

 around its edge and directed backward. Shorter and stouter spines, but of a trian- 

 gular shape, are scattered over the back, and extend even over the odd, short, and 

 pointed tail. Each edge of the tail is armed with a strong row of spines, giving it a 

 regularly toothed appearance. The general color of the Crowned Tapayaxin is 

 gray, variegated with several irregular bands of rich chestnut-brown. The head is 

 light brown blotched with a darker hue, and the under parts are ochry yellow, marked 

 with sundry blotches of dark gray. 



FRINGED DRAGON. -Draco flmbrlatus. 



FLYING DRAGON. -Draco volmns. 



THE family which comes next in order is that in which are included the AGAMAS, a 

 group of Lizards which have been appropriately termed the Iguanas of the Old World. 

 In the members of this family the teeth are set upon the edge of the jaws, and not 

 upon their inner side, as in the true Iguanas of the New World. Between thirty and 

 forty genera are contained in this family, and some of the species are interesting as 

 well as peculiar beings. 



Perhaps the most curious of all this family, if not, indeed, the most curious of all the 

 reptiles, is the little Lizard which is well known under the title of the FLYING DRAGON. 



This singular reptile is a native of Java, Borneo, the Philippines and neighboring 

 islands, and is tolerably common. Some writers believe that this creature was the 

 original source from which the many fables respecting the formidable dragon of ancient 

 and modern mythology were derived. Perhaps, however, the real clue to the various 



