78 BRITISH LIZARDS 



this, confined to the Faraglione Eocks, near Capri, is 

 blackish above, like the rock, and sapphire-blue below.^ 

 Similarly coloured specimens, var. lilfordi, occur on 

 some of the rocky islets of the Balearic Isles. 



"The wall lizard deserves its name, since in the 

 Mediterranean countries there is scarcely a wall on 

 which these active lizards do not bask or run up 

 and down, often head downwards, in search of insects. 

 They are oviparous. The hibernation is short and not 

 very deep, since these lizards can sometimes be seen 

 basking on sunny, winter days before their regular 

 appearance in the early spring." ^ 



As its specific name impHes, the wall lizard belongs 

 to the same family — the Lacertidae — as the green 

 lizard, the common viviparous hzard, and the sand 

 lizard. The slow-worm is the only British species 

 which is not of this family. This family of Lacertida^, 

 or the True Lizards, as they are called, comprises 

 " nearly twenty genera, with about one hundred 

 species, and is typical of the Old World, being found 

 in Europe, Asia, Africa, but not in Madagascar, nor in 

 the Australian region. They are most abundant in 

 Africa. Their northern limit coincides fairly closely 

 with the limit of the permanently frozen under- 

 ground. All the Lacertidae live upon animal food, 

 chiefly insects, and, after them, worms and snails ; but 

 the larger lizards take what they can master, fre- 



^ Boulenger, British Museum Catalogue. 



' Gadow, Amphibia and Reptiles, pp. 557, 558. 



