CHAMELEON'S COLOUR

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 88, 15 April 1939, Page 10

CHAMELEON'S COLOUR

You can get chameleons to assume a two-colour scheme (writes Mr. J. Saucr van Pleston in "The Aquarist"). The portion of the body from the hindlegs to the tip of the tail, restinp on the surface of a sunflower, assumes the deep, golden yellow of the flower, but the ribs, front legs and head, hidden in the bunch of green twigs you have stuck into the sunflower, remain a vivid green. Such a chameleon looks rather a fearsome fellow. It is not true to state that they adopt these variations in colour, getting their bodies to match and blend perfectly with their surroundings, solely for the purpose of hiding themselves, making themselves as it were invisible. They do it more to get insects and flies and things to come and sit on their own b-'lics and thus be easy prey. I have even noticed a golden yellow chameleon go t perch on the tip of •■ brivht green leaf and remain golden yellow for quite a -virile. The vivid splash of colour on the green leaf invariably attracted all kinds of butterflies, day moths and even grasshoppers. The creatures resort to sudden, swift changing only when fleeing from an enemy, generally" from man or a tree snake. I have chased a chameleon along the br: c\ of an orange tree, seen it climb energetically over into, the branches <-f a peach tree in full bloom. Trowing immediately alongside, and then magically vanish! I found it bunched up in the tip of the peach tree branch, a perfectly lovely pink specimen. In tinder two minutes it had changed completely froir. a deep sea-green to a lovely pink.