the last
joint is swollen out into a kind of pad. At first sight we should be
inclined to think that these little swellings near the tips of the toes
would be rather an inconvenience to the anolis, by impeding its
movements. But a closer examination shows that these curious growths
have a use. They act to some extent as suckers, and enable the anolis to
climb the perpendicular faces of rocks, or even to hang from the under
side of a branch.

The males of these little lizards are often very quarrelsome, especially
at certain times of the year, when two of them rarely meet without
having a fight. They fly at each other furiously, rolling over and over,
and biting savagely. These fierce battles generally end in one of the
combatants losing his tail, for in these lizards, as in many others, the
tail is not very strongly attached to the body. The victor sometimes
makes off with the tail of his foe in his mouth, and sometimes he even
devours it. The loss of his tail is a great blow to the vanquished
anolis, for he seems to have a great pride in it. When he is deprived of
it, he accepts defeat at once, and though he recovers from the injury
without much trouble, he is generally but a timid and crest-fallen
creature afterwards. He seems to look upon the loss of his tail as a
disgrace--very much, perhaps, as a regiment of soldiers regards the loss
of its colours.

Another pretty little Cuban lizard is the chameleon-eyed lizard. It is
of a brownish colour spotted with white, especially about the head. It
has many resemblances to the anolis just described, being small,
slender, and active. Both frequent trees, thickets, and rocky places,
where they run and climb with such quickness as to be sometimes easily
mistaken for birds hopping to and fro. The numerous tropical insects are
their usual food, varied occasionally by berries and fruits.

W. A. ATKINSON.

[Illustration: Cuban Lizards.]

[Illustration: "The rabbit bit the stoat in the most infuriated
manner."]

A MOTHER RABBIT'S COURAGE.

A True Anecdote.

Not long ago a gentleman heard of a remarkable fight between a stoat and
a rabbit; he gives an account of it in the _Field_ newspaper. His
gardener was walking in an orchard when he heard a scuffling and
squealing on the other side of a hedge. He looked over, and to his great
surprise, saw a rabbit in close pursuit of a stoat. Just as they reached
the hedge the rabbit caught up with its enemy, but the stoat h