80 THE CRESTED AN0LI8. 



pass through the sandy deserts of Libya, were advised always to carry with them a supply 

 of strong, lively, loud-voiced cocks, by whose vigorous crowings they would be protected from 

 the Basiliscs haunting those parts. 



There is an old proverb, "No smoke without tire," and this saying is veritied in the 

 present case. In some parts of Tropical America there is a perfectly harmless Lizard of no 

 great dimensions, belonging to the family of the Iguanas, and having a bold crest on the back 

 of its head. It is probable that one of tliese reptiles was imi)orted into the Old World at 

 some time now forgotten, and that its rather odd shape and the crest on its head were seized 

 upon by the first describers, and reported with continually increasing exaggerations by suc- 

 ceeding writers. 



Like the rest of the Iguanas, this animal is a good climber of trees, it can swim well, and 

 its food consists aj^parently of insects and the various little creatures which frequent the water 

 and the foliage of its banks. 



Although quite innocuous, it certainly is rather forbidding, and when it obtains its 

 greatest length of three feet, pi-esents a sufficiently formidable appearance to warrant in some 

 degx'ee the wild and fabulous tales which were deduced from its strange shape. Along the 

 back, instead of the I'ow of pointed spines which generally cross the back of the Iguanas, runs 

 a broad crest-like membrane, another broad membrane occupying the upj^er surface of the 

 tail. These curious apjiendages are supported by a series of slender bones, formed by elonga- 

 tions of the vertebrae of the back and tail, so that the animal looks exactly as if the fins of a 

 fish had been grafted on the body of a reptile. There is a slight pouch on the throat, and the 

 jjalate is toothed. 



Many species of the Lizard tribe are called hy the name of Anolis, but are diHded by 

 systematic zoologists of the present day into several distinct genera. The Ckested Anolis 

 inhabits some of the hotter portions of America and the neighboring islands. 



The chief point of interest in this Lizard is the curiously exi^ansile throat, which, in 

 common with others of the same genus, it is able to expand at will. When terrified, it 

 tries to escape, but if it finds itself deprived of all means of eluding its antagonist, it turns 

 to bay, and by puffing out the throat until it assumes a very great size, endeavors thereby 

 to intimidate tlie foe. AVhile thus engaged, the creature has the faculty of continually 

 altering its color ; the hues of the body to a certain degree, but more especially those of 

 the throat, clianging A\ith a rapidity that is said even to surpass the famed powers of the 

 chameleon. 



It is an active little creature, traversing perpendicular objects with nearly as much ease 

 as the Gecko, and to aid it in these movements the last joint but one of the toes is swollen, 

 so as to fonn a pad, and is covered below with cross ridges, so as to enable the creature 

 to take a firm liold of the object to which it is clinging. The food of the Anolis consists 

 chiefly of insects, which are captured by means of singular address on the part of the Lizard 

 The Anolis can run up and down trees, walls, or rocks, with such rapidity, and leap so 

 boldly from one spot to another, that at a little distance its movements might easily be mis- 

 taken for those of a bird. 



Though not aquatic in its habits, and apparently not taking willingly to the water, the 

 Anolis is mostly to be found in the woods and thickets that are in the close neighborhood of a 

 stream or lake. It is a timid, yet a restlessly inquisitive animal ; for although it liides itself 

 with instinctive ca.ution on hearing the approach of a footstep, it is of so curious a nature that 

 it must needs poke its head out of its hiding-place, and so betray itself in spite of its timidity. 

 So absorbed, indeed, is the Anolis in gratifying its curiosity, that it will allow itself to lie 

 cay)tured in a noose, and often falls a victim to the rude and inartificial snares made by 

 children. Its voice is a little sharp chirruping sound ; and by imit;iting these notes, the 

 children decoy it within reach of the fatal noose. 



The usual resting-place of the ('rested Anolis is within the hollow of some decaying tree, 

 where also the female deposits her eggs. 



The color of the Crested Anolis is dark, ashen blue, a blackish spot being apparent on 



