218 
BLUEFIELDS. 
in Jamaica are usually at some distance from the dwell- 
ing house. A very handsome fly with lustrous green 
thorax and purple abdomen {Syrphus ohesus)^ breeds 
in such offices very abundantly ; and it is possible 
that the Anoles and Geckos may feed on it, though 
I have never seen them taking such prey. Indeed 
very rarely have I seen them take food at all. Some 
kept in captivity in a box with a gauze front, 
would occasionally seize a small butterfly {Terias or 
Hesperia) that was now and then put in ; and I once 
lost a butterfly by the means of one of these little 
Lizards rather singularly. I was pursuing a specimen 
of Calisto ZangiSf one day at the summit of the 
Bluefields Ridge, and had watched it to its place of 
alighting: I was about to throw the net over it, 
when, on a slight rustle among the leaves, I observed 
that it was fluttering as if unable to get away ; my 
impression was that an invisible spider’s web was 
holding it, but looking closer I found that a little 
green Anolis had the butterfly in its mouth. Its 
colour was so exactly that of the verdant leaves of 
the bush, that I had not perceived it before, although 
my eyes were fixed on the spot. On my approach it 
'darted aw^ay and was seen no more. I once saw one 
rob a spider’s hole-web ; and I have taken from the 
stomachs of individuals, fragments of ants (both the 
large rufous kind, and that much dreaded species 
called the Corromantee ant), caterpillars, maggots, 
flies, ichneumons, and other insects. 
At Spanish-town, where, as well as at Kingston, 
the Purple-tail attains a size and vividness of colour 
much superior to any that I have seen to the leeward, 
