74 



THE FOOD OF ANIMALS 



(see vol. i, p. 221) are exceedingly active creatures, in which the 

 toes are provided with climbing pads on the under -surface, the 

 structure of which will be described elsewhere. Almost univer- 

 sally distributed throughout the hotter parts of both New and Old 

 Worlds, including Australia, the Geckoes have attracted a good 

 deal of attention from the fact that they are often found in houses, 

 hunting down insects on the walls and even on the ceilings, along 

 which they can climb in an inverted position. 



Even better known than the Geckoes, on account of their 

 quaint form and power of changing their colour to harmonize 



Fig. 361. — Chameleon seizing its Prey 



with local surroundings, are the Chameleons (fig. 361), which are 

 distributed throughout Africa, and are also found in western and 

 southern Asia. All the Lizards, so far considered, are distinguished 

 by their extreme activity, but the Chameleon is a sluggish creature 

 as regards locomotion, and is usually found holding firmly on to 

 a branch by means of a prehensile tail and very curious feet, in 

 which the digits are bound together in two groups, so as to give 

 considerable grasping power. No better description has ever been 

 written of the way in which a chameleon catches its prey than that 

 by Professor Lloyd Morgan (in Animal Sketches), from which the 



