GREAVED LIZARDS. 153 



might prove alarming to anyone not knowing the harmless nature of the beast. As 

 I was pressing him into a corner, he made a rush into the waves, but returned, 

 apparently not liking the surf. Just as I thought he could not escape, he made a 

 sudden dart into the water, dived through the surf, and disappeared." 



From observations made on specimens in captivity, it appears that these 

 lizards eat eggs by taking them in their mouths, raising their heads, and then 

 breaking the shells, so that the contents are allowed to run down their throats. 

 Although but little is ascertained regarding their breeding-habits, monitors are 

 known to lay white, soft-shelled eggs, which are deposited sometimes in the nests 

 of white ants. As many as twenty-four eggs, of a couple of inches in length, have 

 been taken from the bod} 1 " of a single female. By the Burmese these eggs are 

 much relished as articles of food, and command a higher price in the market 

 than hens' eggs. 



The Greaved Lizards. 



Family TeuBjE. 



In America the place of the true lizards of the Old World is taken by a nearly 

 allied group which may be termed the greaved lizards, some of which rival the 

 smaller monitors in size. In common with the remaining members of the 

 suborder, these lizards are distinguished from all the foregoing by their tongues, 

 which are slit at the tip and frequently shaped like an arrow-head, being either 

 covered with overlapping scale-like papillae, or marked by oblique folds. In all, 

 the head is covered with large symmetrical shields, very different from the small 

 scales of the monitors. They further differ by the collar-bones being dilated, and 

 often loop-shaped at their inner extremities. 



The greaved lizards are specially characterised by the absence of a bony roof 

 to the temporal fossae of the skull, and by the shields of the head being completely 

 free from the underlying bones ; while there are no bony plates on the body. On 

 the body and tail the scales are arranged in transverse rows. The teeth, although 

 very variable, differ from those of the true lizards of the Old World in not being 

 hollow at the base ; the replacing teeth being developed in small sockets at the 

 roots of those in use. In some cases these teeth, which may be either pointed or 

 of a flattened crushing type, are placed near the summits of the jaws, and in others 

 somewhat on the side, so that the dentition is intermediate between the typical 

 acrodont and pleurodont modifications ; the front teeth are always conical. On 

 the palate teeth are but seldom present, and, if developed, are small. The long 

 tongue, which is frequently retractile within a sheath, is generally covered with 

 overlapping scales ; the drum of the ear is exposed ; and the eyes are generally 

 furnished with lids. The majority of the forms resemble the true lizards in, 

 general appearance, although in some the number of toes is reduced to four. In 

 others, however, the limbs take the form of mere stumps, while the hind pair may 

 be wanting, in which case there is a near approach to the amphisbsenas. 



The greaved lizards comprise over a hundred species, arranged in thirty-five 

 genera, which are distributed over the warmer parts of America, although most 

 numerous in the equatorial regions. Various in their habitat, some frequent dry, 



