140 A NATURE WOOING. 



approaches cautiously the pit, and, sticking in the end 

 of its tail, wiggles it gently to and fro. The "doodle- 

 bug," thinking it an insect, seizes the end of the tail 

 in its large jaws and is immediately whisked out and 

 swallowed by the ingenious saurian fisherman. 



Since the chamseleon was just issuing in numbers 

 from its winter abiding places about the time I left 

 Florida, I was able to see but little of its daily life. 

 As it is known to many northern people through 

 specimens brought from the south as curiosities, or to 

 be senselessly worn as ornaments by persons who wish 

 to call attention to themselves, and know no better 

 way than to wear a live lizard on their bosom or cra- 

 vat; I incorporate the following extracts concerning 

 its habits. Holbrook, that charming writer on the 

 characters and habits of our reptiles, says of it: 

 "The green lizard, Anolis -carolinensis Cuv., is a bold 

 and daring animal, haunting outhouses and garden 

 fences; and in new settlements it even enters the 

 houses, walking over the tables and other articles of 

 furniture in search of flies. It is very active, climb- 

 ing trees with great rapidity, and leaping with ease 

 from branch to branch or from tree to tree, securing 

 itself even on the leaves, by means of the oval disks 

 of the fingers and toes, which enable it also to walk 

 easily on glass, and on the sides and ceilings of rooms. 

 It feeds on insects, and destroys great numbers, seiz- 

 ing them suddenly, and devouring them, unrestrained 

 even by the presence of man. In general they hiber- 



