THE BRITISH REPTILES. 113 



head and body. The fore leg is a third as long as the body, and the 

 hind leg half as long. The upper parts are spotted olive brown or 

 reddish, often with a black streak down the back, and a dark band, 

 edged with yellowish, along the side ; the underparts are spotted, 

 those of the male being deep orange, those of the female yellow. 

 The female is rather larger than the male, and not so high on the 

 legs or long in the tail. The young are blackish ; they escape from 

 the egg as soon as it is extruded, but feed for a few days on its 

 remains. On their first appearance they are barely three-quarters of 

 an inch long, and seldom exceed a dozen in number. In a few days 

 they begin to run about in pursuit of the aphides and other tiny 

 insects on which for some time they feed. This species ranges across 

 Europe and Asia from Ireland to Saghalien, and from seventy degrees 

 north latitude to the northern slopes of the Alps and Pyrenees. 



The Sand Lizard, otherwise the Grey Lizard, is larger, being 

 about nine inches in length. Its head is short and the nose blunt ; 

 there are no granules above the eyes, and the rostral shield is separ- 

 ated from the nostril as in the foregoing species. The serrated 

 collar is composed of from seven to eleven plates. The scales 

 on the back are rounded or angular, and distinctly keeled ; 

 the scales round the body do not exceed fifty-eight in number. 

 The tail is thick, and has from fifty to eighty rings of scales, 

 and is about half as long again as the head and body. The 

 ventral plates are in six or eight rows, of which the two in 

 the middle are the narrowest. The fore leg is nearly a quarter as 

 long as the body, and the hind leg about three-eighths as long. The 

 upper parts are olive or sandy brown, the lower whitish green, 

 generally with black spots. The male is greener in tint than the 

 female, and both are streaked with spots and patches, the female 

 having three rows of dark brown spots with white centres along the 

 side. The male is a trifle smaller than the female, and has a pro- 

 portionately longer tail. The young are greyish brown, with lines of 

 white spots edged with black. The eggs, from five to eight in number, 

 are laid in a hole in the sand, covered over, and left to be hatched by 

 the sun's heat in July or August. This species ranges from the 

 south of England into North-western Asia, being mostly confined to 

 sandy heaths. Like the viviparous lizard, it is not met with south 

 of the Alps or Pyrenees. 



The Green Lizard is fifteen or sixteen inches in length. 

 The nose is rather pointed, the rostral shield touches the 

 nostril, and behind each nostril are two small scales. The 

 serrated collar is made up of from seven to twelve plates, and 

 is fairly conspicuous. The ventral plates are in six or eight rows, 

 the second row from beneath being the largest. The scales 

 round the body may be sixty-six in number; the scales on the tail 

 are keeled. The tail is twice as long as the head and body ; the 

 fore leg is a quarter as long, and the hind leg two-thirds as long. In 

 the males the hind leg is stouter than in the females, the tail is 

 thicker at the base, the head is higher and larger, and the blue 

 patch on the throat is broader and present at all seasons. In 

 colour this lizard is green above, yellow below, the females, which 

 are rather smaller in size, being browner than the males. Both are 

 spotted with black, but the female's spots are edged with yellow, and 



