26 OUR HUMBLE HELPERS 



long in shape, which is far from being the usual form. 

 But the eggs of some reptiles, notably of lizards, 

 have the shell firm and of the fine oval shape peculiar 

 to birds ' eggs. If you ever encounter in holes in the 

 wall, or in dry sand well exposed to the sun, little 

 eggs, all white, with shell as fine as a little canary 

 bird's, do not cry out at the strangeness of your dis- 

 covery ; you will simply have come across the eggs of 

 a gray lizard, the usual inhabitant of old walls. ' ' 



