Daily Kennebec journal., 1894-02-27
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THE COMMON GREEN LIZARD.
How He Eaters the World, Gets HIS AAv'
ing and Changes Color.


How He Eaters the World, Gets his A'''
ing and ChahEes Color.
The most curious thing about the COM
mon green lizard is the way in whlcn nc
comes into the world. His mother lays
an egg, sometimes number OF eggs anu
considers her parental duties done pug
abandons the egg at once ana pays NJ
more attention to it. The egg soon incu-
hates under the hot southern sun, ana III
due time the little lizard inside conciuues
that IL is time to come out. Aiter he
Nakes the first crack in the shell nve MN
ates do not elapse Before he IS aiuil heue-
ed Young lizard, skipping about the grass
with the confidence of an old lnnaDi'ah''
feeding himself with such small insects as
he can catch. He knows no mother nor
any parental guidance, but 1sseir support
inc and self confident from the moment
of his appearance.
~ was standing on the front piazza one
day when first lived in the West indies
a returned New Yorker said to reporter
,,vvben one of the colored boys who were
sweeping ran up to me with outstretched
hand. saying, Boss, does you want to see
a lizards egg?' He held in his hand a
small egg, in size and color about ike
birds egg, and while 1 looked at it the
ton of the shell cracked in one place The
tracking extended rapidly, breaking that
part of the shell intD small pieces, ana In
a moment a young lizard put his head
through. He looked about for an instant
TO see the Eew world he had discovered,
put out his front paws, and like flash he
was entirely QUE of the shell. He ran up
the bows arm to the shoulder, then down
his clothes to the ground, and was away
in the grass almost before we had time to
wink. He was one of the ordinary little
green lizards, and on his first appearance
be was about l q inches long.
The fondness of lizards of some kinds
for music is well known, and the green
lizard has this musical taste stronger than
most varieties. He will sit and listen for
a long time to the music of a violin, pi-
ano, or even to singing or whistling, show
ing his appreciation by the peculiar mo
tion of his head that all lizards have when
interested in anything. At home in the
warm regions his sole food is flies and 9th
er small insects, which he catches readily,
sometimes by lying in wait or sneaking
up as a cat does to a mouse, but more fire.
quently by spring. When he is in good
condition, the green lizard moves so rap
idly that it is hard for the eye to follow
him.
The small green lizards are plentiful
enough in the southern parts of Florida.
but even there the supply of them is moth
ing compared with the myriads that
swarm all over the West Indies. West In
dians never think of harmng one of the
little creatures, but rather encourage them
to enter the houses, as they are very clean
ly, and do good service in killing off the
flies and small spiders.
Will he bite? Yes, the small green liz
ard will bite your finger if you encourage
him to- He can give pretty hard pinch
too, with his tiny teeth. But he cannot
bite hard enough to puncture the skin.
and his pinching is entirely harmless. OF
the nearly 900 varieties of lizards ther.
is only one kind that does any harm by
its bite. This variety grows to length
of about 1e inches and lives in Mexico,
but it's appearance is SO disgusting, its
skin being covered with leprous spots,
that there is no danger of its being export
ed for some young woman's pet. The idea
that any of the lizards or chameleons can
at will assume the color of any article they
stand upon is popular fallacy. The
green lizards sometimes change their color
to brown or ashy white, but this is about
the extent of their ability. and the changes
are governed largely by their physical con-
dition. Sudden fright sometimes causes
them to turn pale, as it does some larger
animals.--New York Sun.