OF THE UNITED STATES 129 



ever, after such an ordeal they always appear to be very glad to 

 get a chance at some big fat flies. This reptile is perfectly harm- 

 less, and its bite amounts, at the best, to but a good little nip, its 

 delicate teeth being unable even to break the skin, So far as my 

 observations go, they usually lay from six to eight pretty white 

 eggs of an ellipsoidal form, placing them in a line in some dry 

 crevice, either in an old dried tree trunk, or in a suitable place in 

 a rock. Young ones are extremely cunning little fellows, and 

 active from the very first. 



Should one of these lizards have its tail fractured oft by acci- 

 dent, the appendage will grow out again, the bones being re- 

 placed by firm cartilaginous nodules. Sometimes it happens that 

 two tails take the place of the one lost, a-s I have seen on several 

 specimens of the American chameleon (Anolis principaUs), many 

 of which species, as I have said above, were captured and studied 

 by me fourteen or fifteen years ago at New Orleans, La. 



Many of the most remarkable lizards in the world are found in 

 the tropics, especially in the tropical parts of the East and West 

 Indies, Africa and South America. To gain a full knowledge of 

 the class Lacet'tlUa, the student should take occasion to study 

 these as far as opportunity will admit, and in doing so especial 

 attention should be directed to such species as the Monitor of 

 the Nile (Monitor nilot-mis); to the peculiar limbless lizards of 

 Australia (LiaJidw, etc.); to the Skinks (Scincus); to the various 

 species of Iguanas (J</n(tni(hr) ; to the various so-called Dragons 

 (Draco); to the truly extraordinary frilled lizard of Queensland 

 (Chldmydowurus) ; to the rhaimeleons of Africa and Madagascar 

 (Chamwleonj etc.); to the peculiar Geckos that are found in many 

 parts of the world, and have the most remarkable habits. 



