LIZARDS, CROCODILES, AND TORTOISES 323 



when one of them happens to fall very sound asleep 

 during the course of a sun-bath, and then it is 

 advisable to exercise some caution in laying hold of 

 them as they can give very unpleasant bites with 

 their sharply pointed teeth. Their expression has 

 none of the imbecile mildness of that of the wall- 

 geckos, and an old male in full war-paint presents 

 a very forbidding aspect as he stands proudly on the 

 top of a shrub, displaying his spikey back and ruddy 

 head, and gazing round with malevolently sparkling 

 eyes (Plate XX.). Their armoured coats, protec- 

 tive tints, extreme activity, and really formidable 

 jaws are sufficient to deter most of their enemies, 

 save snakes, so long as they remain in their wonted 

 surroundings, but when on the ground they are often 

 attacked by crows and other carnivorous birds. Even 

 when secured under such conditions the great tough- 

 ness of their hides renders them inconvenient to their 

 captors, and brown shrikes, in dealing with them, 

 are accordingly obliged to depart from their ordinary 

 habits, and to fix their prey on stout thorns before 

 breaking it up. 



Another small lizard that is common in gardens 

 in Calcutta is Mabuia carinata, but owing to the 

 fact that it almost always lies hidden under heaps 

 of dead leaves, it is much less likely to attract 

 casual notice than the two species just described. 

 They are beautiful creatures, clad in shining 

 armour of bronze and green above, and with under 



