LIZARDS. 417 



foliaceous seaweeds (UIvsb), plants which are also abundantly found on our shores. 

 Though so pre-eminently an aquatic animal, having been known to live for an hour 

 below the surface, it is a strange fact that on the apprehension of danger, whether 

 from land or sea, it invariably takes to the shore. This anomalous habit may be 

 explained by the fact that its original and only enemy may have been some preda- 

 ceous shark, to escape which its only safety was in flying to the shore, which by an 

 hereditary instinct became to it the only place of refuge. Mr. Darwin says : " It 

 is easy to drive these lizards down to any little point overhanging the sea, where they 

 will sooner allow a person to catch hold of their tails than jump into the water. They 

 do not seem to have any notion of biting, but when much frightened they squirt a 

 drop of fluid from each nostril. I threw one several times as far as I could into a 

 deep pool left by the retiring tide, but it invariably returned in a direct line to the 

 spot where I stood. It swam near the bottom with a very graceful and rapid move- 

 ment, and occasionally aided itself over the uneven ground by its feet. As soon as it 

 arrived near the edge, but still being under water, it tried to conceal itself in the tufts 

 of seaweed, or it entered some crevice. As soon as it thought the danger past, it crawled 

 out on the dry rocks and shuffled away as quickly as it could. I several times caught 

 this same lizard by driving it down to a point ; and though possessed of such perfect 

 powers of diving and swimming, nothing could induce it to enter the water, and, as 

 often as I threw it in, it retui-ned in the manner above described." The animal is of a 

 dirty black color and of about a yard in length. Of its breeding habits nothing is 



known. 



A. demarlii, the terrestrial species, differs from the previous in having the tail 

 cylindrical, and the toes without webs. The individuals of this species, though not 

 found in all the islands of the archipelago, are on some so abundant that it is with 

 considerable difficulty that a plat of ground, free from their burrows, large enough to 

 pitch a tent on, can be found. These burrows being dug at but a small angle with 

 the surface of the ground, are so poorly roofed over as to make traveling very difficult 

 and tiresome, the soil constantly giving way. The animals, which are somewhat 

 smaller than those of the previous species, are lazy, half torpid, and in their motions 

 semi-mechanical. When running along the surface of the parched soil they often 

 stop and doze, their eyes closed, and their hind legs awkwardly spread out. They are 

 diurnal, and seldom wander from their burrows, to which they immediately retreat oh 

 being disturbed, and with a most awkward gait. They ai-e not timorous, however, 

 often elevating themselves and watching one with the drollest expression. After 

 considerable irritation they can be made to bite, though they are otherwise perfectly 

 harmless. Those that inhabit the more arid portions of the islands, are compelled to 

 go for long periods without tasting water, though they consume great quantities of 

 the succulent cactus, to which plant they are very partial, as are most of the animals 

 of the locality. The birds seem to be well aware of the mild disposition of these 

 fanimals, as they not infrequently eat of the same fragment, and have been even known 

 to perch upon the reptile's back. These lizards, as well as their eggs, which are laid in 

 their burrows, are used as food by those — as Darwin characterizes them — "whose 

 stomachs soar above all prejudices." 



Members of the genus Metapoceros are found on the islands of Navaza and Haiti, 

 where they are large and strong. The older specimens are peculiar in having, under 

 the basal joints of the third and fourth toes and the second joint of the third toe, 

 a number of scale-like scrapers. 

 VOL. III. — 27 



