COMMON LIZARD. 137 



are not merely longer, they are altogether of larger proportions ; 

 but the male is the more graceful of the two, his tail tapering 

 gradually from the slender body to the very fine tip. Though 

 the tail is in both sexes equal in length to the head and body, 

 that of the female appears shorter owing to its sudden tapering 

 beyond the thick basal portion. 



The colour is some tint of brown, varying considerably in 

 different individuals from yellow-grey to purple-brown, as a 

 ground tint, upon which is laid variable dark spots forming 

 more or less broken longitudinal lines. There is sometimes a 



Skeleton of Lizard. 



blackish line or band following the course of the backbone to 

 a little behind the hips, and a dark band along the sides edged 

 with yellow. On the underside the males are orange or red, 

 spotted with black ; the females, orange, yellow, or pale 

 greenish, with or without black spots, or a few small grey dots. 

 They appear to moult, or " slough," in patches, though entire 

 sloughs are found occasionally. 



The limbs of the Lizards agree structurally with those of the 

 Mammals, each ending in a well-formed hand or foot with five 

 long and slender digits, each with a curved claw those of the 

 hand worn short and blunt by their use in scraping the earth. 



Their principal food is furnished by the various tribes of 

 insects flies, beetles, moths, and caterpillars, though spiders 



