46 DR. G. B. LONGSTAFF AND PROF. E. B. POULTON ON 



sun it became strongly mottled, with some tendency to be paler on the shady 

 side, but this was not very marked. Excrement consisted o£ elytra and 

 other insect-fragments. 



When chloroformed, it became a uniform pale yellowish, a little paler than 

 my khaki coat : that is to say, assumed its palest coloration. 



2. By Professor E. B. Poulton. 



A fine specimen of Chamceleon dilepis was found by Mr. A. D. Hall at a 

 station on the railway^ Sept. 11th, the day before reaching the Victoria Falls. 

 The chamaeleon was hiding in the deserted nest of a weaver-bird. Mr. Hall 

 kindly gave the specimen to me. It lived in its nest on the train and on the 

 steamer for two weeks without making any attempt to escape. During all 

 this time the chamseleon remained of a straw-colour, which admirably 

 matched the tint of the nest. When removed from the nest and placed on 

 various surfaces its colours did not change. It refused all food, and was 

 probably passing through a dry-season hibernation. In about a fortnight 

 its colour became greenish, it drank, and on one occasion began to wander. 

 Finally, on Sept. 29th, it took the first meal, devouring spiders and insects 

 with the utmost avidity. Its chief food throughout the long voyage was the 

 special cockroach of the ' Durham Castle,' Phyllodromia germanica^ of which 

 it must have eaten hundreds. Having once begun, the chamseleon main- 

 tained its appetite, until in the late autumn it was deposited in the Zoological 

 Gardens, where it unfortunately died in the winter. The existence in the 

 dry season of a fasting period, during which the colours are steadfast, was 

 unknown to me and, if hereafter confirmed, would appear to be a fact 

 of considerable interest in the life of this species of chamaeleon. 



3. Note on Chameleon pumilus, Daudin, ? . By Dr. G. B. Longstaff. 



Taken on a shrub, about four feet from ground, in the Botanical Gardens 

 Cape Town, 9th August, 1905. 



Description. — Apple-green ; at the back of the eye two patches of greyish- 

 pink placed vertically ; a lateral stripe of the same colour extending from 

 shoulder to pelvis, widest in middle, where are two dark grey spots. Several 

 orange tubercles on the back. Belly striped with greenish white; underside 

 of head striped blue-green and pink. The ground varies to dusky green. 



Kept in confinement. Observations on same made at Durban, 16th Aug., 

 1905. After it had been kept for some time in the dark it became of the 

 brightest apple-green. On exposure to light it darkened. Placed on a dark 

 "uniform-case^' near the window in bright light it darkened along the dorsal 

 area. 



Taken out into the garden and placed alternately on a black pair of 

 trowsers and on a white towel. It darkened in both cases, but there was no 



