302 TROPICAL NATURE IIT 
Lizards 
Lizards are by far the most abundant in individuals and 
the most conspicuous; and they constitute one of the first 
attractions to the visitor from colder lands. They literally 
swarm everywhere. In cities they may be seen running 
along walls and up palings; sunning themselves on logs of 
wood, or creeping up to the eaves of cottages. In every 
garden, road, or dry sandy path, they scamper aside as you 
walk along. They crawl up trees, keeping at the farther side 
of the trunk and watching the passer-by with the caution of 
a squirrel. Some will walk up smooth walls with the greatest 
ease ; while in houses the various kinds of Geckos cling to 
the ceilings, along which they run back downwards in pursuit 
of flies, holding on by means of their dilated toes with 
suctorial discs, though sometimes, losing hold, they fall upon 
the table or on the upturned face of the visitor. In the 
forests large, flat, and marbled Geckos cling to the smooth 
trunks ; small and active lizards rest on the foliage; while 
occasionally the larger kinds, three or four feet long, rustle 
heavily as they move among the fallen leaves. 
Their colours vary much, but are usually in harmony with 
their surroundings and habits. Those that climb about walls 
and rocks are stone-coloured, and sometimes nearly black ; 
the house lizards are gray or pale-ashy, and are hardly 
visible on a palm -leaf thatch, or even on a white - washed 
ceiling. In the forest they are often mottled with ashy-green, 
like lichen- grown bark. Most of the ground-lizards are 
yellowish or brown ; but some are of beautiful green colours, 
with very long and slender tails. These are among the most 
active and lively; and instead of crawling on their bellies 
like many lizards, they stand well upon their feet and 
scamper about with the agility and vivacity of kittens. 
Their tails are very brittle; a slight blow causing them to 
snap off, when a new one grows, which is, however, not 
so perfectly formed and completely scaled as the original 
member. It is not uncommon, when a tail is half broken, 
for a new one to grow out of the wound, producing the 
curious phenomenon of a forked tail. There are about 1300 
different kinds of lizards known, the great majority of which 
