162 



MR. A. LOVERIDGE ON 



mantis, flies, bluebottles, rose-beetles, a fairly large scarab, remains 

 of many species of smaller beetles, and a millipede. Otli^r finds 

 which can scarcely be classed as articles of diet include portions 

 of the chameleon's own cast skin, half a nutshell which was pro- 

 bably too bulky to pass out, and in a specimen which was found 

 dying there were four fragments of mica — three pieces measured 

 8x9 mm. and one 8x 11 mm.; doubtless all had split off from 

 one piece which had adhered to the chameleon's tongue when it 

 was feeding. During a shortage of insects I fed strips of Bulbul 

 flesh to a chameleon ; it took them readily enough, but afterwards 

 disgorged them again. 



I rarely found these chameleons on bushes, but usually met 

 with them crossing the road ; several of them were taken ascending 

 the trunks of trees. Their movements are sedate, and each step 

 appears to be well meditated before being taken. They sway 

 gently from side to side when walking. When molested or 

 picked up, it assumes the policy of fi-ightfulness : the occipital 

 lobes are raised, the mouth gapes widely to show the red interior, 

 the throat is dilated so that the orange-coloured interstitial skin 

 is seen between the black scale-rows, and a startlingly sudden 

 lunge forward is made — sometimes an actual bite if the creature 

 is sufficiently enraged. Tlie teeth are blunt and conical, and only 

 once on the many occasions on which I have been bitten have I 

 known this species to draw blood. 



The native has a holy horror of them, and even boys who will 

 capture and handle the most venomous snakes, cannot bring 

 themselves to touch an uncanny chameleon. " It spits at you," 

 they say, " and cannot you see it has a bad eye ? " This superstition 

 is shared by the uneducated Dutchiaan. I recollect on one 

 occasion, when the column halted for ten minutes one day, I picked 

 up a chameleon, which truly horrified a young Dutchman beside 

 me : he implored me to put it down. His argument was : They 

 are poisonous, because if you put some pipe-oil in their mouths 

 they will die. You can always tell a poisonous snake by this test, 

 for the harmless species are not afiected by the oil." He told me 

 he knew of a woman who died from a chameleon bite. I 

 put my little finger into the chameleon's mouth, and let it chew 

 vigorously for a few seconds so that its teeth marks could be 

 plainly seen. He said it was evidently a young one, and was not 

 the least disturbed in his beliefs. 



Their only enemies at Morogoro as far as I know were the 

 Boomslangs {Dispholidus typus). On four occasions I found or 

 heard of these snakes falling out of trees with a chameleon ; the 

 chameleon is evidently an awkward mouthful. I fed chameleons 

 to captive Boomslangs and the snakes took them, but not before 

 there was a contest between them ; the chameleons went through 

 the frightfulness tactics already mentioned, which caused the 

 snakes to start back. A large brown Boomslang was shot at 

 Lumbo with a chameleon in its stomach. 



