1 52 LIZARDS. 



tween the fold on the throat and the groin, and the scales on the nape are not 



larger than those of the back. This fine species, which ranges from India through 



the Malayan region and China to Australia, attains a length of nearly 7 feet, and 



is the largest of the genus. In colour it is dark brown or blackish above, with 



yellow rings ; the snout being generally lighter, with transverse black bars, and a 



dark band, bordered by a yellow one, running backwards from the eye ; the under 



surface being uniformly yellow. The water-monitor frequents marshy localities, 



being often found on trees overhanging rivers, and taking readily to the water, 



either fresh or salt. The last species that we notice is the well-known Nile 



monitor ( V. niloticws), whose range extends all over Africa except a portion of the 



north-western regions. Belonging to the same great group as the last, it represents 



a second subgroup distinguished by the equality in the size of the scales above 



the eyes ; while it is distinguished from its allies by the nostril being rather nearer 



the tip of the eye than the snout. In size it is somewhat larger than the desert 



monitor. The colour of the adult is brownish or greenish grey, with darker 



reticulate markings, and more or less distinct yellowish eye-like spots on the back 



and limbs; while beneath it is yellowish, crossed by some dark bands. This 



species is likewise found in the neighbourhood of water, generally building itself 



a nest among the bushes on the banks, especially of those streams that dry up in 



the hot season. The Papuan monitor ( V. prasinus) of New Guinea and the islands 



of Torres Straits, may be cited as an example of the fourth group of the genus, 



in which, while the nostrils are round, the tail is nearly or quite cylindrical. 



As will be gathered from the foregoing:, the monitors present 

 Habits. . . & . & fc> r 



considerable diversity of habitat, although the majority prefer 



the neighbourhood of water. The Papuan species is, however, believed to be 

 arboreal. All are carnivorous in their diet, feeding on frogs, snakes, the smaller 

 mammals and birds, as well as the eggs of both birds and reptiles, especially 

 crocodiles. Their movements are extremely rapid, both on land and in water ; 

 and many a sportsman in his first day's snipe-shooting in the rice-fields around 

 Calcutta has been startled by the sudden rush of the common Indian species 

 ( V. bengalensis) as it darts among the herbage close to his feet. Those species in 

 which the tail is the most compressed are the best swimmers; this appendage 

 serving as a powerful propeller in the water, and being also used as a weapon of 

 offence on land. In order to enable them to remain under water for some time, the 

 nostrils are expanded into large cavities within the snout ; and when the apertures 

 are closed these pouches serve as reservoirs of air. Writing of the great water- 

 monitor, Cantor says that it is " very numerous in hilly and marshy localities of 

 the Malayan Peninsula. It is commonly during the day observed in the branches 

 of trees overhanging rivers, preying upon birds and their eggs and smaller lizards, 

 and when disturbed it throws itself from a considerable height into the water. It 

 will courageously defend itself with teeth and claws and by strokes of the tail. 

 The lowest castes of Hindus capture these lizards commonly by digging them out 

 of their burrows on the banks of rivers, for the sake of their flesh." Professor V. 

 Ball gives the following account of a meeting with a lizard of the same species in 

 the Nicobars : — " As I did not care to shoot him, though I wanted to capture him, I 

 threw stones at him, whereupon he hissed and lashed his tail in a manner that 



