The American Chameleon or "Green" Lizard, which ranges in this country in the coastal regions from North Carolina to the Rio Grande River, has a remarkable power of changing the color of its skin through shades of brown, gray, and green. In fact, it is said to rival or possibly excel the true chameleons of the Old World. For treatment of the Snakes see Woodcraft, Section XIII. FISHES _"It is not all of fishing to fish."_ [Illustration: PADDLE-FISH So-called from the paddle-like or spoon-shaped snout. Eggs used for caviar. Range: The Mississippi River and its tributaries.] The fishes are the lowest of the true vertebrates or animals with backbones, and all live in the water. They do not have lungs, but breathe through gills on the sides of the head. They are cold-blooded animals; i. e., the temperature of the blood is the same as that of the water in which they are living. Fishes are found in both fresh and salt water all over the world and have adapted themselves to many conditions; for example, certain fishes have lived in caves so long that they are blind; some live in the coldest water, while others can revel in the heat of the hot springs. [Illustration: COMMON CATFISH The barbels which suggest the whiskers of a cat are responsible for the name. This fish has no scales. Range: Eastern and Central United States.] Many fishes are valuable as food and the fisheries are extensive industries, in which large sums of money are invested. There are four great groups of fishes: 1. The sharks and rays, with cartilaginous skeletons. 2. The ganoids of which the sturgeon and garpike are examples, with heavy plates or scales. 3. The bony fishes--salmon, pickerel, mackerel, cod, halibut, etc. 4. The lung fishes, that live partly in air. [Illustration: SHOVEL-NOSED STURGEON This fish is covered with bony plates instead of scales. The roe is made into caviar. _Range_: Upper and middle Mississippi Valley.] There are many species of sharks. Among the more common ones in Atlantic waters are the Smooth Dogfish which have pavement-like teeth; the Sand Shark with catlike teeth; the Hammerhead Shark with its eyes on stalks. The near relatives of the sharks are the Skates. The most common example of the ganoid fish is the sturgeon, which is heavily clad with a bony armor. Most of the fishes that we find, however, belong to the third group, i. e., bony fishes. Among the salt-water species, the cod, the halibut, the mackerel, and the bluefish are especially valuable as food. Of the salt-water fishes that go up the rivers into fresh water to breed, the salmon and the shad are widely known. Of a strictly fresh-water fish, the sunfish and catfish are very common. Among the game-fish are the trout, bass, pickerel, and salmon.