THE GILA MONSTER 



335 



purposes to a larger number of school pupils than 

 any other lizard known to the author. 



The colors of this creature vary with age to an 

 extent that is apt to be very confusing. Observe 

 the programme: 



During the first year the body is black, with 

 bright yellow stripes, and the tai?is brilliant blue. 

 In the second, the tail is slaty gray, and the black 

 of the body is less intense. In the third, the body 

 becomes brownish, and the stripes are indistinct. 

 In the fourth, and thereafter, the body is brown, 

 the head vermilion, and the stripes have disap- 

 peared. The length of a large specimen is about 

 eight inches. 



All the small lizards and skinks are insect- 

 eaters, and in captivity thrive best upon meal- 

 worms and insects generally. Their quickness of 

 movement is almost beyond belief, and even with 

 a long-handled net it is very difficult to capture 

 one alive and unhurt. 



The Ring-Necked Lizard, 1 which should be 

 called the Kangaroo-Lizard, represents a group 

 quite different from the skinks, and also nearer 

 to the iguanas. It is a creature of the canyons, 

 deserts and dry mountains of the Southwest, 

 from Texas to southeastern California, and 

 northward into Utah and Nevada. It is often 

 found on mountains up to 5,000 and even 6,000 

 feet. (Merriam.) 



This is a plump-bodied creature, and its colors 

 vary to an extent that is apt to create confusion. 

 It is either dark green or bluish above, and the 

 sides, back and thighs are covered with light 

 spots. The under surface is yellowish-white, 

 sometimes tinged wth pale green. This lizard 

 derives its name from two bands of black which 

 stretch across the shoulders between the fore- 

 legs. 



The most interesting feature about it appears 

 never to have been observed and recorded until 

 Mr. Barnum Brown sent several specimens to the 

 Zoological Park. When one was liberated in a 

 large sanded cage, it rose on its hind-legs, in the 

 position of an erect kangaroo, and in that strange 

 posture ran rapidly. It held its head well erect, 

 carried its fore-legs a la kangaroo, and ran, not by 

 hopping, but by taking long steps. In experi- 

 menting with the different individuals received 

 from Mr. Brown, it was found that under similar 

 provocation, all of them ran in the remarkable 

 1 Cro-ta-phy'tus collar'is. 



attitude described, — highly suggestive of a pygmy 

 dinosaur. 



The Gila Monster 2 is perhaps the most fa- 

 mous lizard of North America, and its first name 

 is pronounced He'la. 



It is big, odd-looking and very showy, and 

 therefore is dear to the heart of nearly every col- 

 lector of reptiles. A large specimen has a total 

 length of 20 inches, girth around the middle, 94 

 inches, and weighs, 43 ounces. When in robust 

 health, the body and tail seem stuffed to the 

 point of discomfort. Externally the whole of 

 the creature appears to be covered with round 

 glass beads, jet black and orange yellow in color, 

 and laid on in a Navajo pattern. 



This remarkable lizard inhabits the desert 

 regions of Arizona and the adjoining state of 



From the Zoological Society Bulletin. 

 GILA MONSTER. 



Sonora, Mexico. It is more sluggish in its move- 

 ments than a box tortoise, and the very slow and 

 clumsy manner in which it partakes of its daily 

 meal of raw eggs and chopped meat leads the ob- 

 server to pity its helplessness. How it manages 

 to secure a sufficient quantity of acceptable food 

 on the deserts where it lives is a puzzle. 



Whether the bite of this creature is poisonous 

 or not is yet a debated question among natural- 

 ists. Several authorities cite the deaths of vari- 

 ous small animals bitten by it, but others point to 

 other victims which were bitten, but did not die. 

 At the United States National Museum, Mr. A. 

 Z. Schindler was bitten by a Gila Monster, but 

 aside from a very natural degree of irritation 

 a Hel-o-der'ma sas-pec'tum. 



