454 
Lizards 
By  tJie  introduction  of  the  mongoose  some  of  our  contributors 
have  expressed  the  opinion  that  this  animal  has  not  only  exterminated 
the  quail-''  and  reduced  the  numbers  of  insectivorous  birds,  but  that  it 
has  also  diminished  the  number  of  lizards  to  such  a  marked  extent 
that  the  ticks  of  the  Island  have  increased  proportionally  as 
their  enemies  have  been  lessened.  This  is  unfortunately  true, 
so  far  at  least  as  the  birds  are  concerned ;  but  we  have 
no  evidence  to  show  that  the  innumerable  lizards  which  still  exist 
almost  everywhere  in  the  grazing  districts  play  any  part  in  the 
destruction  of  ticks.  That  they  are  of  great  value  in  destroying 
insects  generally  there  can  be  no  doubt,  and  these,  together  with  the 
birds  and  other  predaceous  animals,  may  be  considered  the  only 
forces  with  which  nature  has  provided  us,  to  work  against  the  foes  of 
man  and  his  cultivated  plants  and  animals.  Some  attention  was  given 
to  the  food  of  the  ground  lizard  {Meiva  dorsalis)  \  but  unfortunately 
the  specimens  which  were  procured  for  dissection  came  from  the 
outskirts  of  Kingston,  where  there  are  no  ticks,  so  that  it  was  not 
possible  from  post-mortem  examinations  to  glean  any  facts  in  support 
of  the  theory  that  these  animals  feed  to  some  extent  upon  cattle  ticks. 
But  it  may  be  of  interest  to  note,  however,  that  a  number  of  captive 
ground  lizards  refused  under  any  condition  to  eat  cattle  ticks,  though 
no  other  food  was  supplied  to  them  during  the  many  days  in  which 
they  were  kept  under  observation.  But  although  the  results  in  so 
far  as  their  tick-feeding  propensities  are  negative,  yet  one  gathers 
from  the  few  post-mortem  examinations  which  were  made  that,  in  a 
state  of  nature,  they  feed  exclusively  upon  those  insects  which  are 
commonly  met  with  in  their  haunts,  such  as  earwigs,  two-winged  flies, 
including  the  parent  of  the  noxious  ‘  screw  worm  ’  {Chrysomyia 
macellaria,  see  also  p.  462),  noctuid  moths,  and  numbers  of  the  smaller 
scarabaeid  beetles.  These  observations  on  the  food  of  the  lizard  will 
not,  it  IS  hoped,  prejudice  the  Islanders  against  the  economic  value  of 
this  animal  or  any  of  its  allies.  Further  investigation  may  yet  prove 
that  the  inference  which  has  been  drawn  by  the  pen  keepers  and 
others  as  to  the  tick-destroying  properties  of  this  and  other  lizards 
IS  a  valid  one. 
*  Ortyx  virginianus. 
