THE PET LIZARDS. 



MONG Uncle Will's pets were some gray 

 lizards. A great many of these little fel- 

 lows are found near the city of Washington. 

 They are four or five inches long. They 

 are nice and clean to the touch, and make 

 amusing pets. 



You will see them sitting on the walls 

 and fences, in the sun, and you can catch 

 them easily, if you know how. You must 

 go up to them very slowly, for if you make 

 ^^, a swift motion they are off. When 3'ou 

 get near enough grasp swiftly a little before 

 lizard's nose. If you grasp at the spot where 

 ' he is you will only catch the end of his tail. Xow a 

 ' lizard drops his tail off as easily as a boy loses his 

 jack-knife; so if you catch only the lizard's tail you 

 lose the rest of the lizard. One of Uncle Will's lizards 

 had a broken tail, but he seemed just as happy for all that. 



If you are kind to the lizard, and tickle him gently with your 

 finger, he will soon be tame. ITe will catch flies on the table, and 

 will also come and take insects from your hand. 



In the tropics the lizards are more nimble. It is harder to catch 

 them. Here is one good way. Take a long, slender switch. Then 

 approach the lizard softly. When you are near enough hit him a 

 blow with the switch. He will tumble over, and while he is 

 scrambling you can pounce upon him. But look out! He is not 

 tame yet, and may bite you. To be sure it will not hurt much. 

 The lizards in the tropics are green and golden, and red and pur- 

 ple, and, indeed, all colors. The}^ are beautiful creatures, and most 

 of them may be tamed, like their gray cousins in Virginia. 



But sometimes they ar-e very large and fierce. I was once sailing 

 in a canoe with some Indians. T7e passed beneath a tree. A lizard, 

 nearly as long as a broom-handle, leaped down from a branch. If 



