THE SAND LIZARD. 31 



who fancy that they are doing "the state some 

 service," in efforts to accomplish its extermination. 

 That it is not only inoffensive, but useful in keeping 

 up the balance of nature, by its reduction of insect 

 life, its legitimate prey, is a truth, like the " small 

 bird question," which may be acknowledged when it 

 is all but too late. 



There are two varieties of this lizard, indicated 

 by their relative colour. In one the general tint is 

 brown ; in the other it is green. The most common 

 variety has the back of a sandy-brown colour, some- 

 times spotted with black, with the sides greenish in 

 the male, but brownish in the female ; the belly is 

 white and often spotted. In length it is from seven 

 to nine inches, of which the tail occupies more 

 than half, or nearly two-thirds. The scales of the 

 upper part of the body are roundish or angular, and 

 distinctly keeled ; the plates of the belly are 

 arranged in six rows, of which the two central rows 

 are the narrowest. The tail is covered with from 

 fifty to eighty distinct whorls or rings of scales, 

 which are longer and narrower than those of the 

 back. It is thicker and rather more clumsy than 

 the last species, and the limbs are stouter and 

 stronger, and it is less graceful and vivacious in its 

 movements. There are other and more minute 

 points of difference, but these are of interest rather 

 to the zoologist than to the general reader. It may 



