THE SAND LIZARD. 



43 



to a glass fern-case, and is sufficiently hardy to be kept alive with a very little care. It 

 seems to revel in the sunshine, and there are few objects more beautiful than the emerald 

 green hues of this Lizard as the sunbeams flash and glitter on its resplendent surface. 



It is susceptible of kindness, and can soon be tamed by those who choose to take the 

 trouble of familiarizing themselves with their bright and lively favourite. Although 

 sufficiently bold and apt to bite if it fancies itself aggrieved, it can be so thoroughly tamed 

 that it will come and take flies out of the hand. In France and other countries this pretty 

 harmless little creature is greatly dreaded, the popular belief attributing to it sundry 

 destructive powers of the same nature as those which our rustic population believe to be 

 exercised by the common newt. 



The colour of this beautiful creature is rich shining green above, a little blue some- 

 times appearing upon the head, and the quality of the green being rather variable in 

 different individuals. A multitude of little golden spots are also perceptible on the back, 

 and similar dots of black are not unfrequently sprinkled over the surface. Underneath, 

 the green fades into a yellower hue. 



UNTIL comparatively later years, the SAND LIZARD was confounded with the scaly 

 Lizard, which has recently been described. 



This reptile is extremely variable in size and colouring, so variable, indeed, that it has 

 often been separated into several species. Two varieties seem to be tolerably permanent, 

 the brown and the green ; the former, as it is believed, being found upon sandy heaths 

 where the brown hues of the. ground assimilate with those of the reptile, and the green 

 variety on grass and more verdant situations, where the colours of the vegetation agree with 

 those of the body. 



Though quick and lively in its movements, it is not so dashingly active as the scaly 

 Lizard, having a touch of deliberation as it runs from one spot to another, while the scaly 

 Lizard seems almost to be acted 

 upon by hidden springs. It does 

 not bear confinement well, and in 

 spite of its diminutive size and 

 feeble powers, will attempt to bite 

 the hand which disturb? it in a 

 place whence it cannot escape. 

 When it find, itself hopelessly 

 imprisoned, it loses all appetite 

 for its food, hides itself in the 

 darkest corner of its strange do- 

 micile, and before many days have 

 passed, is generally found lying 

 dead on the ground. 



Unlike the scaly Lizard, this 

 species lays its eggs in a con- 

 venient spot and then leaves 

 them to be hatched by the warm 

 sunbeams. Sandy banks with a 

 southern aspect are the favoured 

 resorts of this reptile, which 

 scoops out certain shallow pits 

 in the sand, deposits her eggs, 

 covers them up, and then leaves 

 them to their fate. Mr. Bell, who 



has paid great attention to this subject, has remarked that the eggs are probably laid for 

 a considerable period before the young are hatched from them. 



As has been already remarked, the colouring of this creature is exceedingly variable in 

 different individuals. Generally it is sandy brown above, with some faint bands of a 

 darker brown with rows of black spots, which sometimes have a whitish dot ia their cen tre. 



\ N 



SAND LIZAltD. Lacerta agiles. 



