SAND LIZARD, 27 



occasionally seen in the small village of Hamwortliy, near 

 Poole, in moist situations. It has been stated by a 

 gentleman of my acquaintance, that the brown varieties 

 are confined to the sandy heaths, the colours of which are 

 closely imitated by the surface of the body, and that the 

 green variety, which I have already slightly alluded to, fre- 

 quents the more verdant localities just mentioned. Be this 

 as it may, — and it is a statement which at present I can 

 neither confirm nor refute, — it is certain that these varieties, 

 mentioned by Linneus and seen by Miiller, do exist in the 

 place I have named, and within a comparatively short dis- 

 tance. 



It is more timid and far less easily rendered familiar than 

 the beautiful Green Lizard (L. viridis) of Guernsey and the 

 South of Europe. This latter species may be readily tamed, 

 and tavight to come to the hand for its food, and to drink 

 from the hollow of the palm of any one to whom it is accus- 

 tomed. It will lie coiled up between the two hands, enjoy- 

 ing the warmth, and not offering to escape. But it is very 

 different with the present species, which appears not to be 

 susceptible of any such attachment. It will indeed attempt 

 to bite any one who handles it, which I have never known 

 to occur Avith the L. viridis. When in confinement, it 

 ceases to feed, conceals itself with extreme timidity when 

 approached, and ultimately pines and dies. 



The female lays her eggs, to the number of twelve or four- 

 teen, in hollows in the sand, which she excavates for the 

 purpose, and having covered them carefully with sand, she 

 leaves them to be hatched by the solar heat. It is probable 

 that the eggs are laid a considerable time before they are 

 hatched, as I have found the female containing numerous 

 eggs of the full size, and apparently ready to be deposited, 

 and yet without the vestige of an embryo within any of them : 

 there is, therefore, every reason to conclude that this species 



