The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-07-03

Of the sun that was rolling up over the
range caught his breastplate, he sprans
from my hand to my sleeve, and then
to the rocks from which he eyed me with
suspicion, bobbing his head up and down.
At o'clock each day, or when the sun
began to drop, the lizard began to lose
his animation; his breathing grew short
er, and soon the most delicate instrument
would hardly have noted the circulation
Of his BLOOD his temperature had drop
ped, the body had shrunk and was rigid
and cold. If the following day was cold,
the lizard did not revive, but slept on,
as do his cousins in the east, who re-
main for months buried in the ground
but in California the summer comes
each day; the sunbeams penetrate the
little fortress and the lizards are warmed
into life.
One day there was a sudden commotion
in the castle. A newcomer was chasing
my friend and soon had seized him by
the tip Of the tail Then the unexpected
happened the victim scrambled away,
leaving the pursuer holding the tail in
his mouth, which vbrated and swung
about as though possessed of a life and
vitality of its cwn. The ruse was sue
cessful, and the enemy's attention was
held until the owner had escaped to think
1t all over. and months later produced a
new tail
This is common trick. and at one time
l had several lizards with new tails in
various stages of growth. The lizards
have the power of casting off the tail,
which so resembles a worm In it's move
ments that It distracts attention from the
victim itself.
Reaching away from the stone heap Is
a field Of wild flowers, among which hun
dreds of insect forms dart and play.
small spider lives in the petals of the
poppy, mimicking It in color, and when
the golden chalice closes at night, many
insects are entrapped In the gorgeous
prison.
As I sit idly watching a yellow butter
fly floats by; then another then several
fiutterlng along with peculiar motion
about foot from the ground; and soon.
looking along the top of the flowers, /
terflies has begun. Nearly every year /
have observed this, the insects moving in
a northerly direction, impelled by some
strange instinct. Such phenomena arc
not rare. Darwin saw a butterfly cloud
ten miles at sea. And Sir Robert Schom-
burgk observed a procession crossing the
Esequibo river that was nine miles wide
and was three hours in crossing the
stream, figures suggestive of the vast
mum bers impelled by this mysterious i'm
pulse to seek new fields.
In a little sandy clearing among the
flowers are the telltale tracks of various
animals Here the soft foot Of a rabbit;
there the dainty outline of the foot of the
tufted quail. Here a snail has crossed the
mimic desert, leaving a faint sinuous trail
which many delicate forms Of the night
have left their footprints in the sand
Here and there we may see little depres-
slons Of the greatest regularity-mimic
pitfalls. A strolling ant comes jauntily
along, bearing succulent morsel which
II has carried for many an ant mile Weary
II fails 10 see the trap and tum-
bles In an easy matter, one would think
to climber out; but the sides Of this cone
shaped pit are smooth as glass, and the
ant slides down fairly into pair of huge
jaws, which lie concealed at the bottom,