THE SAND LIZARD, LACERTA AGILIS 67 



Enemies. — Whatever the enemies of the sand lizard 

 may be in other lands, by far the most important and 

 interesting from the present point of view is the 

 smooth snake (Ooronella austriaca). We have seen 

 that the distribution of these two reptiles in England 

 is practically identical, and Z. agilis seems to be the 

 one meal which Coronella delights in above all others. 

 An average-sized sand lizard is a large morsel for a 

 snake only 2 feet long to manipulate, but it is astonish- 

 ing what the serpent jaw is capable of in the direction 

 of swallowing. When in the gullet of the snake the 

 lizard will occupy the whole length of that organ, and 

 if swallowed head-first in the usual way, the head of 

 the lizard just reaches the entrance of the stomach at 

 the end of the swallowing process. Digestion there 

 takes place progressively as the lizard passes into the 

 stomach, the part in the oesophagus being left un- 

 digested, so that one sometimes finds in the snake a 

 lizard half digested, the intact part being that still 

 in the gullet. 



The sand lizard is also preyed upon by the adder 

 (Vipera herus). 



