88 THE STELLIO, OR HARDIM. 



short, and nicked at the end. It is rather a large species, measuring when full grown 

 nearly a yard in total length. 



IN the genus Grammatophora, the head is three-sided, and rather flattened, with a 

 sharpish muzzle. There is no throat^pouch, but the skin of the chest is folded into a 

 kind of cross plait. The tail is long, conical, rather flattened at the base, and covered 

 with overlapping keeled scales. All the members of this genus inhabit Australia.. 



The MUEICATED LIZARD, or GRAMMATOPHORE, is a native of New Holland. It is 

 almost entirely arboreal in its habits, being seldom if ever seen except on trees, which it 

 traverses with remarkable agility, being quick, sharp, and dashing in its movements. 

 Tt feeds on insects, and is enabled to catch them as they settle oc the leaves or branches. 



MUR1CATED LIZARD, OR GRAMMATOPHORE. Gram'.naMphora muricdta. 



It also eats the caterpillars, grubs, and other larvae, which it can find in profusion among 

 the boughs. 



The colouring of this Lizard is rather variable. Generally the back is brownish grey, 

 traversed by sundry brownish bars, running longitudinally on the body and transversely 

 upon the legs and tail. Upon the nape of the neck and the back runs a crest composed 

 of triangular compressed scales, having two or three, similar rows of pointed scales at 

 each side. Upon the sides of the nape are rows of triangular keeled scales, and the sides 

 are covered with little compressed scales intermixed with large keeled shields. The toes 

 are long, and the two central ones are much longer than the others. This is a small 

 Lizard, only measuring when full grown about fourteen inches. 



The STELLIO, sometimes called the HAKDIM by the Arabs, is a well-known Lizard 

 inhabiting Northern Africa, Syria, and Greece. 



It is a very active little creature, haunting the ruins of ancient dwellings, heaps of 

 stones, rocks, and similar localities, among which it flits from spot to spot with ceaseless 

 activity. It has a curious habit of bending or nodding its head downwards, a movement 

 which is greatly resented by the stricter Mahometans, who are pleased to consider the 

 Lizard as offering an insult to their religion by imitating them in their peculiar actions 

 of prayer. The more religious among them, therefore, take every opportunity of killing 

 the Stellio, blending amusement, piety, and destructiveness with a happy appreciation of 

 their several merits, earning a good position in Paradise on easy terms, and consoling 



