THE IGUANOID LIZARDS 2487 



covering of rough, and slightly overlapping scales, among which are numerous 

 rounded and keeled tubercles. In general color the creature is yellowish, orna- 

 mented with symmetrical chestnut or reddish-brown markings defined by darker 

 borders. 



Inhabiting Southern and Western Australia, and being not uncommon in 

 several localities in the neighborhood of Port Augusta, the moloch is found only 

 in districts where the soil is dry and sandy. Occasionally two or three may be 

 observed basking in company on the top of a sand hill; and it is the frequent 

 habit of this lizard to bury itself in the sand to a short depth below the sur- 

 face. Its small eye and general manner indicate pretty clearly that the moloch 

 is diurnal in its habits, although it may possibly occasionally move about during 

 the night. Although generally very slow in its movements, it has been known, 

 when disturbed, to make for a neighboring hole with considerable speed. In 

 repose it generally rests with the head so raised as to be on the levef of the back. 

 Its chief food appears to be ants, although vegetable substances are sometimes 

 eaten. The female deposits her eggs in the sand. To a certain degree the moloch 

 is endued with the power of changing its color to harmonize with its surround- 

 ings, such changes taking place very gradually, although not unfrequently. The 

 most general change is to a uniform sandy slate, or russet color, when the 

 ornamental markings almost completely disappear. In spite of its ferocious and 

 somewhat forbidding appearance, the moloch is a perfectly harmless creature, its 

 formidable-looking armor being never used for attack. In captivity it is dull 

 and sluggish, undergoing fasts of a month's duration without any apparent incon- 

 venience. 



THE IGUANOID LIZARDS 

 Family IGUANID^ 



The extensive family of lizards, of which the well-known iguanas of South 

 America and the West Indies are the typical representatives, may be regarded as 

 occupying the same position in America as is filled by the agamoids in the warmer 

 parts of the Old World. Whereas, however, the agamoids are exclusively denizens 

 of the Eastern Hemisphere, the iguanoid lizards are not absolutely confined to the 

 western half of the globe, two genera occurring in Madagascar, and a third in the 

 Fiji and Friendly islands. Although, with these exceptions, the family is un- 

 known in the Old World, the same perverseness which causes Anglo-Indians to 

 speak of the Oriental crocodiles as alligators, leads to the monitors of the Old 

 World being commonly termed iguanas, although few lizards are more unlike than 

 members of these two groups, both as regards external and internal characteristics. 

 In their general structural features the iguanoids come very close to the agamoids. 

 Thus in both groups the head is covered with numerous small shields; while the 

 back is clothed with scales of different kinds, which are often arranged in oblique 

 rows. Similarly, the eyes have round pupils and are furnished with well -developed 



