70 BRITISH LIZARDS 



It occurs in Letter XXII., and runs thus : — " It is 

 a satisfaction to me to find that a green lizard has 

 actually been procured for you in Devonshire ; because 

 it corroborates my discovery, which I made many 

 years ago, of the same sort, on a sunny sandbank 

 near Farnham, in Surrey. I am well acquainted with 

 the south hams of Devonshire ; and can suppose that 

 district, from its southerly situation, to be a proper 

 habitation for such animals in their best colours." 

 There is not much in the paragraph to throw accurate 

 light upon the source of this specimen ; Pennant did 

 not even take it himself, it was " procured " for him. 

 The context, however, clearly shows that both White 

 and Pennant understood the specimen to have been 

 a wild specimen captured in the open. The associ- 

 ation of the incident with White's own discovery at 

 Farnham probably reveals the true nature of the 

 lizard, since, as we have seen, Farnham is one of the 

 localities frequented by the sand lizard (Z. agilis). 

 The green colour of the specimen was the feature 

 that specially attracted the attention of both these 

 observers, and that, as we have already noted, is a 

 prominent characteristic of the males of the sand 

 lizard species. Both the specimen procured for 

 Pennant and that seen by White at Farnham were 

 doubtless sand lizards. White's remark concerning 

 the suitability of Devonshire for the requirements of 

 Z. viridis may be quite correct, but it is of no value, 

 since it is a common occurrence in nature to find 



