British Reptiles : Lizards 



The entomologist, net in hand, chases the Meadow- 

 Brown Butterfly in the heated rays of the sun. This 

 common insect drops amid the grasses, and the eye 

 fails to note its anchorage. A Red Admiral dances 

 around a patch of stinging-nettles, settles, shuts its 

 wings, and is unseen. The Wasp, moving deftly over 

 the broom bank, is a mere dot on the wing ; once it 

 rests, its individuality is scarcely noticed. The same 

 with the Aphis on the rose-leaf once it falls to the 

 gravel-path, and the same with the Spider brushed 

 from the corner of the greenhouse. 



From whatever point of view one looks at Nature, 

 he has to confess that it has made provision for its 

 offspring. Nature not only creates, but protects. The 

 Slow-worm that lies idly upon the cart-track, with the 

 sun beating down upon its elongated body, is pro- 

 tected even in its apparent helplessness. As the creature 

 glides from place to place, the friendly fern-fronds 

 drop into their accustomed grooves, the grass-blades 

 bend and sway backwards, and all things conspire to 

 cover the track of this legless Lizard. 



As a rule the Slow-worm basks in sunny places. 

 Some say it sleeps at such hours, and only hunts in 

 the evenings, when the dew is on the grasses. There 

 is some truth in the belief, for Slow-worms do bask in 

 the sun ; a low temperature sends them under stones 

 or other debris. There is a tendency in all reptiles to 

 shun coldness in any form, and hence it follows that it 

 is useless hunting for Slow- worms in the heat of a July 



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