PRDKLEM I. The Kwds oj Annuals oj the Earth 



29 



snakes are a serious menace. It is esti- 

 mated that in India alone they kill about 

 20,000 people ever^^ year. One of the 

 most deadly snakes of India is the cobra. 

 It- is vicious, and injects a particularly 

 strong venom (poison). There are also 

 huge pythons in India which reach a 

 length of more than thirty feet. They 

 coil themselves around their victims and 

 crush them to death. Some of the boa 

 (boh'a) constrictors and anacondas of 

 the tropical Americas may also reach a 

 large size. Many reptiles, unlike other 

 animals, keep on growing throughout 

 their lives and they live long. 



Lizards — the closest relatives of snakes. 

 People often call the little four-legged, 

 soft-bodied salamander, so common in 

 the woods, a lizard; but since it lacks 



Fig. 39 (above) A hog-nosed snake losing its 

 old skin. As a snake grows its skin becomes too 

 small. A new skin jornis under the old one. 



(AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY) 



Fig. 38 (left) This swift is a typical lizard. 

 Notice the claws on its toes. What characteris- 

 tics of a lizard does it have? Why is it classed 

 as a reptile? (American m:useum of natural 

 history) 



a scaly covering you know it cannot be 

 a reptile, and must not be called a lizard. 

 Lizards have, as a rule, slender bodies 

 with long tails and four rather short 

 legs which can move with great speed. 

 Lizards live in warm climates. 



Lizards of the United States are, with 

 one exception, harmless. The one lizard 

 which bites and has poison fangs is the 

 red and black striped Gila (hee'la) 

 monster. It lives in the deserts of Ari- 

 zona and New Mexico. 



Alligators and crocodiles. Alligators 

 and crocodiles are large reptiles which 

 inhabit only the warmer portion of the 

 globe. Even there they are sluggish, 

 resting motionless in shallow streams 

 with their eyes and nostrils above the 

 surface of the water. However, the sight 



