LIZARDS 



171 



every day by taking them into 

 tlie garden and placing tliem 

 in communication with a 

 swarming ant track. By care- 

 ful observation it was found 

 that no less than from 1,000 

 to 1,500 ants were devoured 

 by each lizard at a single 

 sitting. The ant-devouring 

 proclivities of these prickly 

 little lizards can no doubt be 

 turned to very useful and 

 effective account in clearing 

 ant-infested domiciles, and 

 were in fact thus utilised by 

 the writer on more than one 



PAolo 4r ***. SumUi-Ktnl, F.Z.S. 



AUSTRALIAN WATER-LIZARD 



Toll's lizard is of aouatic hahiti^ artj tuns on its hind legs ivlien traiening long distances 



occasion. 



The lizards included in the Agama Family are essential!}' inhabitants of the Eastern 

 Hemisphere, none occurring in America. In the western continent, however, we find an 

 equally extensive but structural!)' distinct group which presents many singularly corresponding 

 types. This famih- comprises the true Ic.U.\N.\S, many of them of considerable size, and a 

 numerous assemblage of smaller forms. Among those species which present a striking parallel 

 in size and aspect to the peculiarly characteristic Old World Agamas, mention may be made 

 of the little so-called HoRNED Toad, or Spinv Liz.xrd, of California. This species might 

 readily be taken by the uninitiated for a near relation of the Australian Moloch Lizard, or 

 IMountain-devil, last described, its flattened diminutive form and bristling spiny armature 

 seeming!)' justifying such a supposition. The crucial test afforded by the character of the 

 dentition, however, distinctly indicates its true position to be with the Iguanas. In the Agamas 

 the teeth are invariably developed from tlie apex, or summit, of tlie jaw. Tliese teetli, 



moreover, are varied in cliaracter. 

 In the Iguanas, on the other hand, 

 the teeth are all more or less uni- 

 form in cliaracter, and are attached 

 to the outer sides of t!ie jaw. 



The larger iguanas are, for tlie 

 most part, exclusively fruit- and 

 vegetable-feeders, and arboreal in 

 tlieir liabits. The tliiclc forest scrubs 

 in the vicinity of streams and rivers 

 are their favourite resort. After the 

 manner of tlie Australian water- 

 lizards, tliese Iguanas are expert 

 swimmers, and deliglit in lying along 

 l!ie overhanging branches, whence 

 at the slightest alarm they can pre- 

 cipitate themselves into the water 

 beneatli. Wlien swimming, tlie 

 fore limbs are folded back against 

 the sides, the tail only being used 

 ph.„ty,r.u..n..K..,,f.z.s. 33 3 j^^g^^g Qf propulsion. Sev- 



AUSTRALIAN WATER-LIZARD eral of the larger Iguanas, such 



Sh-wing attitude ivhen running BS tllC COmniOU or tubcrculatcd 



