SKINK TRIBE. 



167 



are attached to the sides of the jaws, may have either conical, bicuspid, or broad 

 and spheroidal crowns (Tiliqua). The head is covered by large symmetrical 

 shields, among which an unpaired occipital is generally wanting; and the over- 

 lapping scales of the body are generally subhexagonal in form and arranged in 

 a quincuncial manner. Worldwide in distribution, the skink tribe are most 

 numerously represented in Australia, Oceania, the Oriental region, and Africa, 

 while very few occur in South America, and there are not many in North America 

 and Europe. Although their habits are not fully known, it appears that, with the 

 exception of two genera, they bring forth living young, varying from two to ten 

 in number. The majority are terrestrial, a few only being able to climb, while 

 none are aquatic. They sedulously avoid the neighbourhood of water, frequenting 



STUMP-TAILED LIZARDS (^ nat size). 



dry situations, and more especially those where the soil is sandy with an admixture 

 of pebbles or fragments of rock. Moreover, they generally possess the faculty 

 rare among lizards of burrowing in the ground with the dexterity, if not with 

 the power, of moles. From this habit the group is sometimes spoken of as the 

 burrowing lizards; and it may be remarked that their spindle-shaped bodies, 

 covered with highly polished scales, their short legs, and frequently abbreviated 

 tail, as well as the transparent window in the lower eyelid, are all features specially 

 adapted for such a mode of life. From among the numerous genera, the limits of 

 our space render it necessary to confine our remarks to four, which are selected as 

 examples of very divergent types. 



stump-Tailed Described as far back as the year 1699, the stump-tailed lizard 



(Trachysaurus rugosus), of Australia, is the sole representative of 



Lizard. 



