922 On the Habits of the American Chameleon. (September, ; 
side, to form a very narrow, and we must own, much more sightly 
foot. Lying in the median plane, beneath the throat and reaching 
back as far as the sternal space, Anolis possesses a peculiar orna- 
ment; this consists in a fold of the common integument, con- 
trolled by an exceedingly interesting apparatus that gives it the 
power of protruding downwards and slightly forwards at will, 
carrying the fold with it, to fully the extent shown in the figure, 
or even more. Upon complete retraction this appendage is 
scarcely discernible. Its sudden appearance has a very striking . 
effect, as the skin of which it is composed is of a bright red color, 
being decked over with the white scales, which are here larger 
than usually found elsewhere on the body, that stand apart by 
the stretching. Out of the large number of specimens that ee 
have examined alive, this curious affair never appeared to be. 
missing, though in some it was very much more prominent than n 
in others, so we are forced not to attach to it any sexual distinc- 
tion. The males are crested, also, along the dorsum, another 
feature which becomes more prominent when this reptile is ex 
cited. Under nearly all conditions the ventral parts of Anolis, 
except the continuity of the tail, are white, longitudinally striped 
with irregular dusky lines that are much more decided a the 
throat, and almost amount to a mottling on the belly and;chest. Z 
A certain amount of mottling occurs high up and along the b eo 
This lizard can assume, apparently at will, one of two colors, S 
an irregularly distributed combination of both of them; these 
colors are a bright pea-green, the alternative being a very hand- 
some shade of brownish-bronze, very dark in some old speci- 
mens, very light in others. 
The first time he comes under your observation he may be 0 n 
e and aW 
you witha pecu- 
nce or twicê, — 
body becomes a dead brownish-bronze, ever and anon iw 
tibly flushing a lighter tint. You make a step nearer, Si 
suddenly wheels and heads his course up the trun squatting 
very low as he does so; you come still a little nearer, 
vances up the tree in a spiral direction, until he is on the opp® 
