138 ANIMAL LIFE OF THE BRITISH ISLES. 



are greatly appreciated. Unless they are very small, cater- 

 pillars do not appear to be swallowed, but rather chewed and 

 the skin rejected. The name vimpara refers to the fact that 

 the female retains her eggs until they are fully developed and 

 ready to hatch, so that the young are born free from the egg- 

 membrane, or the egg breaks in the act of oviposition or 

 immediately after. They are deposited anywhere: there is 

 neither nest nor concealment, and the mother exhibits no 

 interest or concern in her progeny. These number from six to 

 twelve, and are nearly black. They remain motionless where 

 they were born for several days. They are about an inch long. 

 They start life so well nourished that they take no food for 

 several days, then start hunting for small insects, such as 

 Aphides and other soft-bodied species. The teeth are very 

 small and conical, and unfitted to deal with hard substances ; 

 and as the two halves of the lower jaw are firmly connected 

 there can be no distension of the small mouth to accommodate 

 large parcels of food, as happens with the Snakes. 



Points to be noted in the external appearance of the Common 

 Lizard, when we have succeeded in capturing one, are the fact 

 that the entire body is clothed with smooth, slightly keeled, and 

 scarcely overlapping scales, small on the upper side, excepting 

 the head, where they are large. On the underside, too, they are 

 larger, especially from the breast to the vent, where they become 

 broad plates, of which there are six rows, the two central rows 

 being much smaller than the lateral ones. A row of larger 

 scales forms a sort of collar across the underside of the neck. 

 The Lizards have not that fixed, ever-open-eyed stare of the 

 Snakes. The Lizard can follow your movements with his eye, 

 and wink at you intelligently, because he is provided with eye- 

 lids, which the Snake lacks. He closes his eyes in sleep. When 

 he puts out his tongue to ascertain whether an insect is good for 

 food, you will notice that the broad tip of it is notched into two 

 rounded lobes, instead of being forked into two thread-like 



