Fig. 124.–Lyriocephalus scutatus. × ⅔.
C. versicolor ranges from Afghanistan through the whole of India to Southern China, and attains a length of 14 inches, 11 of which are taken up by the tail. It possesses no gular sac, but has a well-developed crest. The whole body and tail are covered with strongly keeled scales. When the lizard is irritated, or swallowing its food, the head and neck become brilliant red, whilst the usually brownish tint of the body is converted into pale yellow. Mr. Annandale has favoured me with the following observations on C. emma:–"In the Malay Peninsula the Europeans misname this lizard Chameleon. The colour-changes appear to be brought about by emotions, although the lizard is often darker towards evening than it is at mid-day. The males are very pugnacious, and change colour as they fight. At the time of courtship a curious performance is gone through by the male, the female remaining concealed in the foliage hard by. He chooses some convenient station, such as a banana leaf or the top of a fence, and advances slowly towards the female. His colour is then pale yellowish flesh-colour, with a conspicuous dark spot on each of the gular pouches, which are extended to their utmost. He stands upright, raising the fore part of the body as high as possible, and nodding his head solemnly up and down. As he does so, the mouth is rapidly and repeatedly opened and shut, but no sound is emitted. When he is driven away, caught or killed, the dark spot disappears entirely from the neck. If one male is captured, another takes his place within a few hours."
C. ophiomachus of Southern India and Ceylon reaches 2 feet in length, has a fold of skin in front of each shoulder, and is generally known as the "blood-sucker" on account of the red colour displayed during excitement on the head and neck.
C. mystaceus, chiefly in Burma and Siam, but also in the Nicobar Islands and in Ceylon, has a small gular sac and an oblique fold in front of each shoulder. The specific name seems to refer to the yellowish lips. Mason[[155]] gives the following vivid account of it:–
"This is a very common species in gardens in Toung-ngoo. A pair made their home in the mango trees near my study window. The female blundered into the house a few days ago, but I found her a very unattractive animal of a uniform earth-brown colour. The male, however, is sometimes a beauty. He may be often seen jerking his head up and down, with the head, pouch, and whole front of the body a glowing ultramarine blue, contrasting beautifully with the reddish-brown of the hinder part of the body and tail. From the nose to the shoulders, below the eye, is a broad white band, which is interrupted by three reddish-brown patches, in line with the white band, before reaching the uniform reddish brown of the hinder part of the body. Occasionally the white band below the eye assumes a brownish colour, and the animal appears to have a brown band down each side. He does not always, however, appear in this gay dress. While I am writing, I see him coming down the trunk of one of the trees in a very faded garment. His skin suggests a bright calico after it has been washed, whose colours succumb to soap. The blue is there, but it is no longer the bright blue of yesterday. It has changed to a dull light indigo colour. He runs across the grass to the foot of another tree, and stops on the bare ground at its base, where for a minute or more he bites with great energy at a struggling grasshopper, and while thus exercising himself the blue fades out from his body altogether, and his whole body takes the colour of the brown earth on which he stands. After tarrying a minute or two he ran up the other tree, and the dull light blue colour seemed to return to him."
Agama with many species in Africa and Asia; some in South-Eastern Europe. The body is somewhat depressed. There is a fold across the throat and a pit on either side; the presence of a gular sac is variable. A dorsal crest is absent or but feebly developed. The males have pre-anal pores.
A. sanguinolenta.–The body is covered with strongly keeled and pointed scales. On the sides of the head are a few spine-like scales. The ear-opening is partly concealed by a fringe of spinous scales. The males have a gular pouch. This is a typical inhabitant of the deserts and steppes of Turkestan. Zander[[156]] has observed the habits and many changes of colour of this lizard. The usual garb is earthy brown above, with somewhat darker and rather indistinct markings. The under parts are whitish. Sometimes the creature changes to dirty white, at other times into blackish or grey brown. Bluish-red stripes may appear on the sides of the body; blue lines begin to show on the throat, and ultimately the whole belly, originally white, may become ultramarine blue. When the general tone happens to be sulphurous yellow, blue often appears on the tail and limbs. Brick red appears on four longitudinal rows of patches on the sides of the body. Sometimes the whole animal assumes a vinous tinge, or it is at first greenish before turning into blue. The change begins on the tail and limbs, extends over the head, and at length reaches the back. Red appears in both sexes, more frequently in the female; blue almost entirely in the male. Sunlight and warmth only intensify the colours. Adaptive coloration, besides the usual sandy garb, has not been observed. The lizards live on soil which is baked as hard as bricks, or in cavities of old walls, provided there is vegetation. They require vegetable food, besides insects, grazing on grass, and having a fondness also for Mesembryanthemum cardiforme. Very large males reach a total length of one foot. They are pugnacious, especially during the time of breeding. The male inflates its gular sac into the size of a walnut, stands up upon its four limbs, with its head slightly lowered and turned to one side. Then it darts upon the foe which it has been eyeing for some time.
Fig. 125.–Agama stellio. × ½.