126 



CHAPTERS ON THE NATURAL HISTORY 



country. These interesting little reptiles have frequently been 

 kept in confinement by me for great lengths of time. A good- 

 sized male lizard of this species may measure as much as seven 

 or eight inches long, being earthy brown above, and a soiled 

 white beneath. A patch of brilliant cobalt blue is found upon 

 either side beneath, bounded with a deep black, while the back 

 is transversely marked with wavy bars of a dark tint. Fig. ">:> 

 shows the male of one of this species, life size; I got him just as 



FIG. 32. THE COLLARED LIZARD {Crotaphytus collaris) 



Photographed from life, and reduced about one-third. 



he jumped from my finger on to the pine limb upon which he is 

 represented; so his attitude is perfectly natural. 



In captivity this lizard will readily feed upon flies and many 

 other varieties of soft insects. They will also breed; the female 

 resembling the male much in appearance, although she is lighter 

 tinted and show r s scarcely any of the cobalt coloring beneath. I 

 have had them to go, as a matter of experiment, for two or three 

 months without eating or drinking anything at all, and then they 

 did not show the etl'ects of the prolonged fast very much. How 



