NAME OF MONITOR 



useful to them than greater brilliancy of colour. They 

 are all of them fiercely carnivorous, and they do not 

 despise carrion ; even the remains of mortals who have 

 undergone tree " burial " in the East are apt to be de- 

 voured, while small mammals and other creeping things 

 are readily eaten. The monitor of the Nile is particularly 



MONITOR LIZARD. 



fond of crocodiles' eggs. The examples at the Zoo are 

 often given eggs, which they swallow cleverly without 

 breaking the shell and spilling the contents. For the 

 name monitor several explanations have been given ; 

 the one most in favour is perhaps that it is due to a mis- 

 understanding of the Arabic word for the lizard. Another 

 is, that it gives notice of the approach of a crocodile. In 

 connexion with this legend, it is remarkable that the 



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