THE PINE-TREE LIZARD. i6g 



ing in the bottom, then three above it, and four in the third tier. 

 Such was the position in two sets of eggs, while the others were 

 scattered over the sand in bewildering confusion. None of these 

 hatched, the failure to do so, inasmuch as they were fertile, being 

 due, I believe, to the surroundings being too dry. Probably a 

 certain amount of decaying vegetable matter is mingled with the 

 sand when the eggs are laid, and thus a moist heat is produced, 

 which is as necessary as it is in the case of the eggs of the alli- 

 gators and crocodiles. 



The ova laid by my penned lizards were long, narrow, covered 

 with a tough skin, free from calcareous matter, and varied in 

 weight from twenty to twenty-four grains. At May's Landing, I 

 am told, the eggs are usually laid about June 1st, and hatch about 

 July 10th. 



While the abandonment of their eggs in this apparently heart- 

 less manner leads to the supposition that they are indifferent to 

 their off sjjrings' welfare, which is true, it is somewhat interesting 

 to notice how very tolerant they are of the petty annoyances to 

 which their own or another's young subject them. My observa- 

 tions on this point were made from a number of young and old 

 confined in a roomy Wardian case, but probably what I there saw 

 holds good among the lizards in their native haunts. I am sure 

 it did among the many living on the old trestle at May's Landing. 

 Often a little lizard, and sometimes two, would perch upon the 

 head and back of an adult, and there be allowed to sit for fully an 

 hour. The sharp claws of these youngsters seemed at times dan- 

 gerously near the eyes and ears of the patient old one, but it 

 offered no resistance, and, when I forced such burdened lizards to 

 move, it was always with a deliberateness that suggested that they 

 were really averse to disturbing those resting upon them. Again, 

 adults would often rest upon each other, in what appeared to be a 

 most uncomfortable manner for the one beneath, often pressing 

 the head of the latter into the sand and completely blinding it 

 for the time ; yet I never saw the slightest evidence of ill-humor, 

 not even when they were being fed. Often it happened that some 

 sleepy fellow would quietly snap up the fly toward which another 

 lizard was cautiously crawling, yet no fight ensued. Anything 

 more trying than this to humanity can not be imagined, yet the 

 lizards took every such occurrence as a matter of course. 



In running, as well as when walking about deliberately, which 

 they less often do, the lizard brings all four limbs equally into 

 play, and their gait is much like that of a cat. When progress is 

 suddenly arrested, they usually squat upon their hind-limbs only, 

 holding their head well up and elevating the body, as does a cat 

 or dog, by keeping the fore-limbs straight. Every attitude is sug- 

 gestive of intelligence, and I refer particularly to the matter, be- 



