— 
1877.] Zoölogy. 493 
Merrill, “ while duck shooting at a lagoon about six miles from the fort, 
I saw one of these cats come out of some thick chaparral and run 
across an open resaca, within seventy-five yards of me. The long tail 
and gray color were distinctly seen and unmistakable.” 
The occurrence of the Nasua is particularly interesting, as it adds not 
only a species but a genus and family of mammals to our fauna. Dr. 
Merrill kept the coati some time in confinement, but finally killed it, 
and transmitted the specimen to the Smithsonian. It is unfortunately 
not in very good order, having been attacked by insects, but will answer 
for identification. It is probably the species referred to on page 22 of 
the Mexican Boundary Report as “ Nasua fusca,” under which name 
the Berlandier MS. speaks of a coati as common in SONNE OE Dr. 
Merrill took the following description from the living animal : — 
emale. Nose to base of tail, about twenty-two inches ; tail vertebra, 
twenty ; tail with hairs, twenty-one. General color, grayish yellow, the 
hairs lighter at the ends; shoulders and other parts yellowish-white ; 
tail brownish-yellow, darker towards the tip, in form very thick at the 
base and gradually tapering ; feet black, five-toed, claws long; ears small 
and rounded ; snout long, slender and flexible, extending one and one 
half inches beyond upper incisors; top of head yellowish; three white 
spots, one above, another beneath, and a third three fourths of an inch 
behind, the eye ; terminal inch and a half of snout with whitish hairs ; 
rest of face brownish; nose black. She is quite tame, is a great mouser, 
and makes a very amusing pet.” — Erxiorr Coves, Washington, D. C. 
SPONTANEOUS ÅDAPTATION or COLOR IN THE Lizarp.— The liz- 
ards are of great beauty and variety in Florida, and are generally not 
easily alarmed, and so tame as to afford good opportunity for observing 
their characters and habits. Their having the capacity of, chameleon- 
like, changing color, has, I believe, been questioned. Since my resi- 
dence here, I have had ample means of determining the point, and can 
positively state that they possess the power to which I have reference in 
a remarkable degree; indeed I was unprepared for the extreme devel- 
opment of this curious gift, which they spontaneously exhibit. For in- 
stance, I have seen a small yellowish-brown lizard, on quitting the 
ground, instantly assume the dull gray hue of the weather-beaten fe 
rail it glided upon and along. Passing under some i mp: foliage, 
it would next adopt that color, to be succeeded by a full bright green of 
emerald-like glow, as it reached and rested underneath the sprays of 
grass and other leaves of corresponding shade. The original yellowish- 
brown color would again be assumed on the lizard returning to the 
ground. Each of the changes mentioned appeared to be almost instan- 
taneous, and the entire series could not have occupied much more than 
one quarter of a minute of time. 
At Santa Fé Lake, in Alachua County, these interesting little creat- 
ures are uncommonly abundant. They frequently enter dwellings, bask- 
