144 THE BRITISH NATURE BOOK 



moors, especially where there is plenty of sand. The male is about 6 inches 

 long, the female about 7 inches. They are reddish brown above, spotted, and 

 marked with a lighter and darker colour. The male has a brighter red or orange- 

 blue below, spotted with black ; the female, a paler orange or yellow under side. 

 The young are almost black at first. This species produces its young alive, 

 six or more at a time, about i inch long. For a few days they require no 

 food, existing on the " egg-yolk " still within them ; then they begin to feed 

 as the adults, on flies and other insects. When seen basking in the sun, the 

 movement of the sides of the neck, expanding and contracting, will be noticed 

 the method of inflating the lungs. 



2. The Sand Lizard (Lacerta agilis) is much rarer, though fairly common 

 in Hants and Surrey and Dorset. This species has teeth, but though it may 

 attempt to bite, they are too small to do harm. It varies very much in colour 

 greyish and greenish or brownish in general colour, decorated with blackish 

 brown and white spots. It is entirely oviparous, the six to twelve eggs being 

 laid in July in a depression in the sand, where they are hatched out by the sun. 



The best way of distinguishing these two species is to remember that the 

 snout of the Sand Lizard is blunt, and the tail nearly twice as long as the 

 body and head together. Like the Chameleon, the Lizards change colour 

 rapidly when in active life. 



3. The Slow-worm, or BLIND-WORM (Anguis fr agilis), is unfortunately 

 often killed because of its snake-like appearance ; yet it is really a legless 

 lizard, and is, as a matter of fact, neither blind nor slow. It has movable 

 eyelids (which snakes do not possess), rows of scales on the belly, and its 

 tongue is not forked like a snake's, but notched like the other lizards. Its 

 length is from 12 to 15 inches, and the prevailing colour is grey or brown, 

 with coppery tinge. It is a species that is both viviparous and ovo-viviparous, 

 and breeds in August or September. During the winter it hibernates, but 

 may sometimes be seen on a sunny day in early spring. It feeds on slugs, 

 worms, and small caterpillars. 



These lizards may easily be kept in captivity a Tate's sugar box with a 

 glass top, containing plenty of sand, moss, and " rocks " and some virgin 

 cork, is as good as anything : a saucer should be kept filled with clean water ; 

 but the soil is better kept dry, though if a plant is kept in the box it should 

 be sprinkled with water, that the lizards may drink, as they will, the little 

 drops of water which gather on the leaves. They quickly get accustomed to 

 being handled, and I have seen some kept as pets emerge from their hiding- 

 places to be fed when called. They should be supplied with flies, small smooth 

 caterpillars, worms, etc., and when this supply fails, it is always easy to get 

 meal worms, which will form a staple article of their diet. In the autumn 

 they should be put into a cold room and allowed to hibernate. 



