COURTSHIP AND MATING OF REPTILES 151 



Odorous attractions are sometimes possessed by the male, 

 as in the Musk- Duck (Cairina moschatd), a species which ranges 

 from Mexico to the Argentine Republic, and is known in captivity 

 by the erroneous name of " Muscovy "-Duck. 



It must not be imagined that the courtship of any particular 

 species necessarily exemplifies the Law of Battle or the Law 

 of Beauty only, for in many cases strength and aesthetic qualities 

 are both called into play. 



COURTSHIP AND MATING OF REPTILES (REPTILIA). 



THE LAW OF BATTLE. Some male Reptiles engage in com- 

 bats with one another during the mating season, a habit which 

 has been observed in Alligators, some Tortoises, and certain 



Fig. ITII. Owen's Chameleon (Chameeleo Oiveni}. Female on left; male on right 



Lizards. Among the latter the males may be provided with 

 strong spines or horns on the head, especially so in some of the 

 Chameleons (fig. mi), and these weapons are no doubt used 

 in their fights with one another. The jealous ferocity of the 

 American Alligator (Alligator Mississippiensis) is thus graphically 

 touched off by Cyrus W. Butler (in Big Game of North America)'. 

 " On the whole, he is a sluggish, very sluggish, animal, not 

 even being an active hunter; but loafs around in hope that some- 

 thing may turn up that probably a fish may unwittingly swim 

 near enough to be snapped up by a quick motion of his long 

 jaws. But lazy and sluggish as he is, and cold as is his blood, 

 there are times when it must course swiftly through his veins; 

 for on a little island of muck, in the centre of a pond, a female 



