LACERTILIA 247 



leaves and in the sand under bushes. This species lays eggs, though some 

 of its family are viviparous. It hides its eggs under moss and leaves and 

 the young mature very slowly, taking several years to reach maturity. 



The American Chameleon and its Relatives. — Our very interesting lit- 

 tle lizard {An'olis) (Fig. 202) of Florida and the Carolinas is commonly 

 called a "chameleon," but the real chameleon is a native of Africa. The 

 " green chameleon " (AiioUn) has the power of suddenly and voluntarily 

 changing its color to adapt itself to its environment. Experiments upon 

 this animal in our laboratory proved that it changes color more rapidly 

 when placed upon objects with natural colors than it does upon artificially 

 colored ones. It is arboreal and insectivorous. The males have " large 

 gular sacs which can be distended by the hyoid bones." These sacs are 

 white, with occasional red lines and spots, but when inflated they become 

 crimson. The Anolis is 5 or 6 inches long. 



Another member of this family is our little Swift, common in the forests 

 and fence corners of the United States as far north as Michigan. It delights 

 to lie basking in the sun, but disappears quickly when disturbed. 



Fig. 203. — The "homed toad" {Phrynoso'ma blainvillei) . The spiny cov- 

 ering repels many enemies. (From Jordan and Kellogg, " Animal Life," 

 D. Appleton and Co., Publishers.) 



Another member is the very interesting little lizard called the " homed 

 toad" (Fig. 203), Phrynoso'ma, found in the dry regions of the Southwestern 

 States. The body is oval in form, rather flat and broad, with a short conical 

 tail. It is covered with irregularly shaped keeled or spiny scales, the head 

 being " bordered posteriorly with osseous spines." The small eyes are each 

 protected by a ridge running backward above them. The ventral side of 

 the author's pet " horned toad," a specimen from southeast Kansas, is 

 yellowish in color, with a number of brown spots dotted over it. The scales 

 are small and regular. The general color of the animal, dorsally, is grayish 

 or yellowish brown, affording, together with its irregular and roughened sur- 

 face, an excellent protective resemblance to the sand in the desert regions, 

 in which it likes to sink until the spines of the head alone stick out. Thus 

 some species, at any rate, lie concealed through the night and on cloudy 

 days. They are liveliest in the middle of the day and delight in the hot sun. 

 when alarmed they shut their eyes and he flat on the sand. Their food 

 is insects, which they catch as toads do with their tongues, which are smooth, 

 short, and scarcely at all notched, and can be thrust out a short distance 



