Alligator Lizards 17 
favorable moment arrives for a dash to safety, may often save 
the lizard’s life. 
The individual involved in the foregoing observations was 
in the cage with the birds, it immediately assumed a defensive 
attitude, standing high off the ground with the body tilted 
toward the nearest bird. The head was turned sideways to the 
body and lowered, with. jaws gaping, protecting the neck on 
the side from which attack was expected. The body was 
slightly bent laterally, ane the concavity on the side which the 
lizard was facing. The tail was looped in a half circle in front 
of the body with the result that the magpie pecked at it first 
after a cautious approach. The Gerrhonotus sprang at the bird 
with a sudden straightening of its body. The bird dodged and 
jumped back. When the magpie was eight or ten feet away, 
the lizard seemed to lose track of its position except when it 
was moving. Several times when a bird came near, the 
Gerrhonotus charged straight toward it for a foot or more, 
driving it back. 
All three magpies in the cage became highly excited and 
hopped around the lizard, each in turn closing in to deliver a 
peck as it turned in the opposite direction. The lizard showed 
inability to watch more than one assailant at a time, or to shift 
attention rapidly from one to another. During the encounter 
the lizard’s tail was broken. At the instant the tail parted none 
of the birds was touching it, but undoubtedly it had been in- 
jured by them as many blows had landed upon it. Up to this 
time the lizard had made no attempt to escape but had for the 
most part taken the offensive. It now made a short run to 
the nearest shelter, a dish in the cage beneath which it hid. 
t this instant the attention of all three birds was focused 
upon the squirming tail whose lively movements were in con- 
trast to the previous inactivity of the lizard itself. pate! 
When a large king snake (Lampropeltis getulus boyli) was 
placed in a cage with the lizards referred to above, the reaction 
was strikingly different. The lizards would crouch motionless 
until the body of the snake brushed against them, They would | 
then rush frantically along the sides of the cage trying to escape 
through the screen, and would make no attempt to bite the 
_ snake or to drive it off as they had the birds. Half an hour ae 
