274 



NATURAL HISTORY. 



Thus, it will often take a great number of the smaller insects, preferring those of the two-winged order, 

 though it will not refuse many of the beetles and Orthoptera, if they are not too large." 



The female retains the eggs until the young are ready to leave them, and they are produced alive. 

 The covering of the egg is very thin and membranous. As the young are sometimes found with the 

 mother, it is possible that she has some maternal instincts. The young are fully formed when born, 

 and are capable of running about and of taking care of themselves. This little Lizard is from five inches 

 and a half to six inches and a half in length, of which the head occupies half an inch, and its colour 

 and markings vary much. The general ground colour of the upper parts is a greenish-brown, with a 



SKELETON OF THE COMMON LIZARD. 



dark brown line down the middle of the back, which is often somewhat interrupted. A broad stripe or 

 belt extends parallel with this on each side, commencing behind the eyes, and extending to a greater 

 or less length down the tail ; between this and the former are often one or more rows of black dots, 

 and similar ones may occur on the lines. The under side of the body and base of the tail, in the male, 

 are bright orange, spotted with black ; in the female these parts, as well as the tail, are pale greyish- 

 green, without spots. 



The other species of Lacerta, which may be seen frequently on the Continent of Europe, are the 

 Green * and the Ocellate f Lizards, and the lively little Wall Lizard. J 



There are some species of Lacerta in Africa, and on that continent, in India, and in Southern " 

 Europe, the genus Acanthodactylus is represented. Its species have the toes keeled beneath or 

 fringed along their edges. Long-tailed, cylindrical-bodied Lizards are also found in the East Indies 

 and in Africa, and they belong to the genus Tachydromus. The genus Ophiops contains Lizards 

 without palatal teeth and eyelids, and the type is an inhabitant of Asia Minor. 



* Lacerta viridis. t L. ocellata. + L. muralis. 



NOTE. If these common Lizards are taken as the types of the order Sauria, or Lacertilia, the distinctions between them and 

 the Crocodilia on the one hand, and the Serpents, or Ophidia, on the other, can be appreciated. The skull of the Lizard, 

 shortened as it is in relation to that of the Crocodile, possesses the following peculiarities : The lower jaw is jointed 



with a quadrate bone, on each side, which is not firmly united to the skull, 

 for the union admits of some movement there. In this respect the Lizards 

 differ from the Crocodiles, but this mobility is in excess in the Serpents. In 

 the Lacertilia the pterygoid bones reach from the palatines and sphenoid back, 

 wards and outwards to join, but not to unite firmly to, the quadrate bones ; but 

 this is not the case in the Crocodiles, and the joining is in the nature of a 

 very movable joint in the Serpents. In the Sphenodon, one of the Lacertilia, 

 this union is bony, and there is no mobility. On the palate of the Saurians, 

 the inner nostiils or posterior nares are well in front, and the vomers limit 

 them internally, and the palatine bones externally. The palatine bones do not 

 unite along the median line, as in the Crocodile, except in the Sphenodon, and 

 the vomers are distinct in the Lacertilia. There is a transverse bone uniting 

 the palatine and pterygoid with the maxilla in the Lacertilia and Snakes. 

 The basi-sphenoid has a projection on each side which passes downwards and 



EKULL OF LIZAUD. 



