THE GREEN LIZARD, LACERTA VIRIDIS 75 



for further development with the aid of warmth, and 

 the young are hatched out in another four weeks, so 

 that the whole period of gestation is eight weeks. 

 The young, or at any rate the eggs deposited, are 

 usually from eight to ten in number. They have 

 yellow lateral lines, which, as we saw, persist in some 

 of the females in adult life. With regard to the 

 question of the mother exercising any watch over the 

 eggs, or giving any other sign of interest. Miss Hopley 

 says : " Mr. Jenner Weir told me of one (a green 

 lizard, that is) in his possession, who displayed not 

 only vigilance and care for her eggs, but considerable 

 wiliness in secreting them. The spot where she had 

 laid them being discovered, she being there, hastily 

 retreated, but presently returned and scratched the 

 peat over them till hidden by a little mound ; then 

 continued day after day to visit the spot and bask 

 on the mound ; but, as if conscious of being watched, 

 would never do anything to betray the place while 

 anyone was near." ^ The whole question of parental 

 relationship is a very interesting one in reptiles, as 

 they seem to be on the border line of those vertebrates 

 which give indications of its evolution. A priori one 

 would expect to find it appearing first in those animals 

 which brought forth their young alive, rather than in 

 oviparous creatures such as the green lizard. 



^ C. Hopley, British Reptiles, p. 92. 



