49S THE COMMON OR RINGED GECKO. 



eat worms ami various insects. Some persons assert that it devours 

 mice and reptiles ; but that it should do so is a physical impossibility, 

 owing to the very small dimensions of the mouth and the structure of 

 the jaw, the bones of which are firmly knitted together, and cannot be 

 separated while the prey is being swallowed, as is the case with the 

 snakes. 



In captivity it seems to reject almost any food except slugs, but 

 these molluscs it will eat quite freely. 



The Blindworm generally retires to its winter-quarters tow^ard the 

 end of August, or even sooner should the weather be chilly. The 

 localities which it chooses for this purpose are generally dry and 

 warm spots, where the dried leaves and dead twigs of decayed branches 

 have congregated into heaps, so as to afford it a safe refuge. Sometimes 

 it bores its way into masses of rotten wood, and on heathery soils, where 

 the ground slopes considerably, it selects a spot where it will be well 

 sheltered from the winter's rains and snows, and burrows deeply into 

 the dry loose soil. 



Like the snakes, the Blindworm casts its skin at regular intervals, 

 seeming to effect its object in various modes, sometimes pulling it off in 

 pieces, but usually stripping it away, like the snakes, by turning it in- 

 side out, just as an eel is skinned. 



A new group now comes before our notice, the members of which are 

 distinguished by the formation of their tongues, which, instead of being 

 flat and comparatively slender, as in the preceding Lizards, are thick, 

 convex, and have a slight nick at the end. On account of this structure 

 the species of this sub-order are termed Pachygloss^, or <Hhick- 

 tongued lizards." 



These reptiles are divided into sundry groups, the first of which is 

 termed the Nyctisaura, or Nocturnal Lizards. These creatures have 

 eyes formed for seeing in the dusk — circular eyelids, which, however, 

 cannot meet over the eyeball, and in almost every case the pupil is a 

 long narrow slit like that of the cat. The body is always flattened. 

 The limbs are four in number, tolerably powerful, and are used in 

 progression. 



Of these Lizards, the first family is the Geckotid^, or Geckos, a 

 very curious group of reptiles, common in many hot countries, and 

 looked upon with dread or adoration by the natives— sometimes with 

 both where the genius of the nation leads them to reverence the object 

 of their fears, and to form no other conception of supreme power than 

 the capability of doing harm. 



The Common Gecko, or Ringed Gecko, is an Asiatic species, being 

 as common m India as the preceding species in North Africa. It mav 

 be easily known from allied fan-foot by the large tubercles upon the 



