AGAMAS. 



107 



also is sliort, and the tail seldom longer than the 

 body. From these peculiarities the Agamas are 

 sometimes called frog-lizards. The whole head, 

 body, and limbs, are commonly covered with 

 lozenge-form or hexagonal scales, which are often 

 prolonged into little spines, which bristle up 

 formidably, when the body is distended with air. 

 Some of the species, indeed, are so armed with 

 spinous processes of various forms and lengths, as 



MOLOCH LIZARD. 



to present a truly frightful appearance ; such as, 

 for example, the Moloch Lizard of Australia 

 {Moloch horridus), 



" Some of the most singular shapes among the 

 existing races of reptiles," observes Mr. Swainson, 



