back and sides, inhabits Lower California;
the Cape Gecko, Lower California; the Banded Gecko, Texas, New Mexico,
Arizona and California. The latter is the most gaudily marked of the
Geckos found in the United States and is likewise the most abundant. It
may be seen at dusk coming out of rock crevices to feed on small
insects. Many consider this lizard poisonous and its saliva is supposed
to produce painful skin eruptions. Authorities, however, tell us that
this is not so. The first three Geckos mentioned live largely in trees,
but the Banded Gecko lives on or near the ground.

THE CHAMELEONS.

The American Chameleons are not true chameleons, but belong to the same
family as the Iguana. They have come to be known as Chameleons because,
like the rightful owners of that name, they change the color of their
bodies. This change is occasioned by the differences of temperature and
light. One species is found in the United States and is known under
various names, such as the green lizard, the fence lizard and the
alligator lizard. It is called alligator lizard from its resemblance to
a young alligator. This lizard is found in the southeastern United
States from North Carolina to Florida. The common colors of the American
Chameleon or the Anolis, which is its scientific name, are brown and
green. These colors vary with conditions. When asleep, for instance,
this little reptile is green above and white below, and when fighting or
frightened it becomes green; at other times it is brown. Raymond L.
Ditmars, Curator of Reptiles in the New York Zoological Park, says that
in collecting these lizards and placing them in wire-covered boxes, he
has "always noted their change from various hues, prior to capture, to a
scrambling collection of several dozen emerald-green lizards. If the
gauze cage be laid down for half an hour or so while the collector
rests, the lizards soon take on a brownish tinge, but as soon as the box
is again carried about and the occupants are shaken up and frightened,
the brilliant color appears among them all." He further says that "there
is no relation or influence between the lizard's colors and its
surroundings. The change of color is brought about principally through
temperature and light and their influences on the creature's activity;
also by anger, fear and sleep."

The Anolis stalks its prey like a cat does a mouse. It crouches and
creeps forward for the final spring with motions that are exactly
si