The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1894-03-22
THE common GREEN LIZARD.
Cos He Enters the World, Gets His Liv-
ing and Changes Color.

ing and Changes Color.
The most curious thing about the COM
mon green lizard is the way In which no
comes into the world. His mother lays
an egg, sometimes a number of eggs, and
considers her parental duties done. She
abandons the egg at once and pays no
more attention to it. The egg soon incN-
bates under the hot southern sun, and in
due time the little lizard inside concludes
that 1t Is time to come out After he
makes the first crack in re shellfve min
utes do not elapse beforeXe is full fiedg-
ed young lizard. skipping about the grass
with the confidence OF an old inhabitant,
feeding himself with such small insects as
he can catch. He knows no mother nor
any parental guidance, hut is self support
ing and self confident from the moment
of his appearance.
"I was stauSing on the front piazza one
day when / first lived Ia the West Indies"
a returned New Yorker said to a reporter,
''when one Of the colored boys who were
sweeping ran up TO me with outstretched
hand, saying, Boss, does you want to see
lizards egg He held in his hand a
small egg, in size and color about like
birds egg, and while / looked at ii the
top of the shell cracked in one place. The
cracking extended r;Sidly, breaking that
part of the shell into small pieces, and in
moment a young lizard put his head
through. He looked about for an instant
TO see the rev world he had discovered.
put out his front paws, and like flash he
was entirely out of the shell. He ran up
the boys arm to the shoulder, then down
his clothes 70 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 appearances
he was about 70 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
long time TO the music Of violin, pi-
ano, or even to singing or whistling. show
ing his appreciation by the peculiar mo-
ton of his hesd that ell 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
mp as a cat does to 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.
uc sfutn BFtth dAc pithbiAh
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 harming 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 bitter 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 2 200 varieties OF lizards there
Is only one kind that does any harm by
its bite. This variety grows TO length
Of about ~ inches and lives in Mexico,
but its appearance IL 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 cbameleons can
at will assume the color of any article they
stand upon is a 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 IL does some larger
Animals.-New York Sun.