114 SAURIA. VARANIDiE. 



restrial and the aquatic Monitors, the habits of 

 which differ much from each other. The former 

 have the tail conical and nearly round, and these 

 live in sandy districts or among dry rocks, never 

 frequenting water. They run with rapidity, with 

 a serpentine motion, a mode of progression pro- 

 duced by the long and muscular tail, which helps 

 to push them forward, and aids them in leaping 

 on the prey which they pursue. Some of these 

 were known to the ancients, who regarded them 

 as terrestrial Crocodiles, probably from their size 

 and ferocity. 



The aquatic Monitors, which are by far the 

 more numerous, have the tail, which is very mus- 

 cular and strong, compressed through its whole 

 length ; it thus forms a powerful organ of pro- 

 gression in swimming, especially as its upper 

 surface is frequently surmounted with one or two 

 rows of flattened scales forming an elevated crest. 

 These frequent the banks of lakes and rivers, 

 which they traverse by swimming, and into which 

 they are said to drag their living prey, when they 

 have seized it, in the manner of the Crocodiles. 



The food of the Varanidce consists, it appears, of 

 any animals which they have size and strength suf- 

 ficient to overcome. The terrestrial species hunt 

 after large insects, such as cockroaches, locusts, 

 and beetles ; the eggs of ground-building birds, 

 and small vertebrate animals. The aquatic spe- 

 cies are still more formidable, for, besides fishes, 

 tortoises, chameleons, and the eggs of birds and 

 of crocodiles, they are said to prey on quadrupeds 

 of considerable size and strength. M. Lesche- 

 nault de Latour asserts that they associate in 

 bands, and watch at the margins of the rivers to 



