. Sketches of the natural history of Ceylon; with narratives and anecdotes illustrative of the habits and instincts of the mammalia, birds, reptiles, fishes, insects, &c. including a monograph of the elephant ... Zoology; Elephants. 278 REPTILES. [Chap. IX. inents. As usually observed it is of a dull greenisli brown, but when excited its back becomes a rich olive green, leaving the head yellowish : the underside of the body is of a very pale blue, almost approaching white. The open mouth exhibits the fauces of an intense ver- milion tint; so that, although extremely handsome, this lizard p
. Sketches of the natural history of Ceylon; with narratives and anecdotes illustrative of the habits and instincts of the mammalia, birds, reptiles, fishes, insects, &c. including a monograph of the elephant ... Zoology; Elephants. 278 REPTILES. [Chap. IX. inents. As usually observed it is of a dull greenisli brown, but when excited its back becomes a rich olive green, leaving the head yellowish : the underside of the body is of a very pale blue, almost approaching white. The open mouth exhibits the fauces of an intense ver- milion tint; so that, although extremely handsome, this lizard presents, from its extraordinarily shaped head and threatening gestures, a most malignant aspect. It is, however, perfectly harmless. Chameleon. — The true chameleon' is found, but not in great numbers, in the dry districts to the north of Ceylon, where it frequents the trees, in slow pursuit of its insect prey; but compensated for the sluggishness of its other movements, by the electric rapidity of its extensible tongue. Apparently sluggish in its general habits, the chameleon rests motionless on a branch, from which its varied hues render it scarcely distin- guishable in colour; and there patiently awaits the ap- proach of the insects on which it feeds. Instantly on their appearance its wonderful tongue comes into TONGUE OF CHAMELEuN. Though ordinarily concealed, it is capable of protrusion till it exceeds in length the whole body of the creature. Ni) sooner does an incautious fly venture within reach ' Chameleo Tulgaris, Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original Tennent, James Emerson, Sir, 1804-1869. London, Longman, Green, Longman, and Roberts
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, booksubjectelephants, booksubjectzoology, bookye
