xii LACERTIDAE 555 



The male is a little smaller than the female but has a relatively 

 longer tail, a little less than half the total length. 



The Sand-Lizard is easily kept in captivity, and lives for years 

 if allowed a variety of food and proper places to hibernate in. 

 It pairs in the spring, in England in May or June ; the white, 

 parchment-like eggs, numbering five to eight, are hatched in the 

 following July or August. 



L. wridis, the Green Lizard, inhabits Southern and Middle 

 Europe and South-Western Asia. The general colour of this 

 beautiful lizard is emerald-green above, changing into greenish 

 yellow on the flanks and into yellow on the belly. The throat, 

 especially in the males during the breeding season, is blue. The 

 upper parts are frequently speckled with black. The young are 

 brown or green above with one or two yellowish lateral stripes, 

 which persist in some adult females. There are usually two 

 superposed postnasal shields. The semilunar collar on the neck 

 is well pronounced, and there is usually a distinct gular fold. 

 The tail is often very long, especially in the males, sometimes 

 nearly three-quarters of the total length, which in very large 

 males reaches 16 or 17 inches. The females do not quite reach 

 this length. 



The Green or Emerald-Lizard prefers rocky localities, from 

 the sea-level, as for instance in Jersey, up to a height of 

 several thousand feet. It is extremely swift and can 

 climb trees, which it sometimes resorts to when chased. When 

 hard pressed it takes tremendous leaps down to the ground, 

 marvellously enough without injury to body or tail, which latter 

 is otherwise very brittle. They pair in the spring or early 

 summer after much fighting between the males ; the eggs, to the 

 number of about ten, are whitish and are deposited a month 

 later. The young are hatched after another four weeks. 



This beautiful lizard does not keep well in captivity, although 

 it becomes very tame ; it eats meal-worms, snails, earth-worms, 

 and insects, especially butterflies, but it sickens after the first 

 winter even if it has been allowed to hibernate. 



In Portugal and Spain L. mridis is represented by a slightly 

 different kind, L. schreiberi, the chief interest of which lies in the 

 fact that it approaches L. ocellata in several respects. The 

 occipital shield is large and is usually broader than the inter- 

 parietal. The dorsal scales are smaller, and there are eight well- 



