Page:Natural History, Reptiles.djvu/96

88 size, and the greatest number feed on small animals, such as insects, their larvæ and pupæ. These they catch either by lying in ambush, or by pursuing their feeble prey in the holes and dark crevices to which it retires. The structure of their feet enables them to run in every direction over the smoothest surfaces, and they can even remain suspended beneath the large leaves which a luxuriant tropical vegetation so frequently puts forth. The sharp or retractile nails with which the feet of the greater number are armed enable them to cling to and make rapid progress on trees with the smoothest bark, or penetrate the holes of rocks, and to climb walls. Of sombre or varying colours, adapted generally to the locality where their lot is cast, they will often remain for hours in positions as extraordinary as the flies and insects for which they watch; the wonderful apparatus with which their feet are furnished enabling them to overcome the general law of gravity, and without which they would instantly fall to the earth. The hues of their skins thus render them less objects of suspicion to the little animals for which they lie in wait, and also serve to dodge even the acute eye of the bird of prey that seeks to destroy them. Their eyes enable them to discern objects in the dark, and are at the same time capable of bearing the rays of a bright sun; for many insects are nocturnal or crepuscular, while the great mass of them are diurnal. The pursuit of their prey leads them near the habitations of man, whose dwelling always attracts certain kinds of insects, and they sometimes fall victims to their appearance, which frequently inspires terror, and often