The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1880-06-19

farthest corner of the room, and on the
very edge of his chair. ready at the
first appearance of Lizbeth or Baby Ia
escape through the door.
1t may be you would not have liked
Lizbeth and the Baby at first sight
You might have thought them too much
like toads. But if you could have seen
the two as they climbed over nv
mothers sewing, while she sat at
work, scrambling in and out her
pockets, stopping now and then to
wink or scratch their heads with the hind
leg, or if you could have watched them
follow her from room to room, scamper-
ing like mice and then falling asleep in
a square of sunlight at her feet, | feel
sure you would soon have been willingto
hold their soft little bodies in your
hand, that you might examine their
many-colored coats, which were very
pretty, looking like bits of Persian
carpet surrounded by fringe.
There is one queer fact about the
horned lizards coats-they change
their color to match the surface on
which they live, thus resembling the
chameleons, though having the queer
power in less degree. In travelling
through Nevada and Colorado, one
may see many colored varieties of the
same species, the changes in tint taking
place in accordance with similar shades
of the soil. have seen one that was
pure white all over-an albino, per-
haps. Why do you suppose Mother
Nature gave them this singular power?
/ think there were two reasons. In the
first place, they have no means of de-
Tense; they cannot bite nor sting nor
scratch, but they crouch closely upon
the soil, and lie so quietly that, if of
the same color as the ground, it is next
to impossible to catch sight of one until
it stirs. When discovered, they will
generally act as if dead, even though
roughly handled. DR.. Coues says that
they show special fear of dogs. On the
approach of dog, he says, they will
raise themselves to the full length of
their legs, puff out the body, open the
mouth, and hiss violently. There is,
no doubt, some special reason for this
aversion. 1T may be that the coyote,
the dog of the plains, includes horned
lizards in his varied bill of fare, and
that from this fact they instinctively
recognize an enemy in all dogs.
In the second place, the gift of color
mimicry helps the horned lizards to OBJ
tain food. Their legs are too short to
enable them, like their cousins, the
true lizards, to run down their prey,
and knowing this, they adopt differ
ent method. When an unlucky fly
alights a few inches from what appears
a mere bunch of earth, our little friend,
with body compressed and movements
so slow and regular as to be unnoticed,
creeps close to the unsuspecting insect,
and with flash of the tongue secures
the welcome morsel. Beetles it catches
more easily, and when it is at home in
the dry, sandy wastes west of the Great
Plains, and in Texas, these form its
chief food. The agreeable odor, like
musk, which it emits when warm, is
also a noteworthy fact, and this may
have an influence in attracting insects.
Aided by this and by sugar sprinkled
around them, Lizbeth and Baby found
no lack of prey during the warm
weather.
Early in October, however, the weather
changed, and there began to be a suc-
gestion of snow in the air. They felt
the cold keenly, and when the sun left
the window, they would creep under
the curtain tassel and lie there dormant
all the afternoon. Then we brought
them large box, filed with loan and
vegetable mold, and as the weather
grew colder, they generally buried
themselves, after breakfast, in the soft
soil, leaving only their noses exposed,
nd cla If,
next morning, when, if not too cold,
they crept out to beg for bug OF a fly.
And | was so afraid that before spring
came their coats would change to the
color of dirt, that | dug them up every
little while to see whether they had
changed already. And they had.
Lizbeth's beautiful white stomacher be-
came brown, and those gold spots on
Baby's shoulders were getting to be
very dull.
One bleak day in January, I carried
them both, in my coat-pockets, to the
studio of Mr.. Church, the artist. L
wanted him to draw their portraits.
He made some pictures of them, but
unfortunately Lizbeth took cold, and
became quite i'll. Fer two days she
languished. She took no interest in
anything. On the second day l
thought l might divert her by letting
her do some of her tricks with a tooth
pick. She took the tooth-pick in her
little hands and breathed her last.
Troubles never come singly. On
the next morning but one, found
Baby's box on the floor of the library;
the dirt was scattered over the carpet,
and, on her back, under the center
table, lay poor Baby! The kitten had
been playing with her, had tumbled
her about the room, had rolled on her,
and paved her and killed her!
Alas! Though the spring shall
come, with many beetles and bugs in
its train. it will bring me only sad re-
membranes of my little friends, the
horned lizzards.-George Houghtop, IN
| ST. Nicholas.