160 LIZARDS. 



pressed toes have either smooth, tuberculated, or indistinctly keeled pads on the lower 

 surface, while the thighs have pores. In common with several other genera, the 

 nostrils are placed close to the so-called labial scales, from which they are separated 

 at most by a narrow rim ; and if there be a transparent disc in the lower eyelid, 

 it is smaller than the eye. Among the most beautifully coloured members of 

 the suborder the pearly lizard, which attains a length of from 16 to 23 inches, 

 claims a foremost place. Belonging to a large group of the genus, in which the 

 edge of the throat-collar is strongly serrated, this species agrees with certain other 

 members of the genus in its smooth tail, and in the scales on the sides of the body 

 not being smaller than those on the back. As special characters of the species, it 

 may be noted that the scales are smaller than in the allied forms ; and that there 

 are not less than seventy scales round the middle of the body, eight or ten of which 

 belong to the under surface. The head is very large in the male, and characterised 

 by the great width of its hindmost, or occipital, median shield. In colour, the 

 upper-parts are either green, with black dots or network, or blackish olive with 

 yellowish netting ; the sides are marked with a row of about a dozen eye-like blue 

 spots; while the under surface is uniform greenish yellow. The olive-coloured 

 young are, however, dotted all over with white, or pearly-blue, black-edged spots. 



Common in Spain, and also occurring in the south of France and North- 

 Western Italy, or wherever the olive-tree grows, the pearly lizard is generally to 

 be met with in the neighbourhood of hollow trees, frequently ascending some 

 distance up their trunks, or even climbing among the branches. The males are 

 somewhat quarrelsome, and the females lay from six to ten eggs, generally 

 deposited in a hollow olive-tree. 



Another well - known European species is the green lizard 

 Green Lizard. . . 7 . . _ , , . 



(L. viridis), attaining a length of about 12 inches in Germany, but 



in the more southern portions of its habitat measuring as much as 17 inches; 

 fully two-thirds of this length being occupied by the long tail. Having not more 

 than sixty-six scales round the middle of the body, this lizard is distinguished by 

 the general presence of two small superimposed scales behind each nostril, the 

 small size and triangular form of the occipital shield, and the arrangement of the 

 abdominal scales in six longitudinal rows ; the collar being serrated. Usually the 

 nostrils are in contact with the front or rostral shield of the head ; and in the 

 female and young the foot is longer than the head. As regards colour, the males, 

 which may be distinguished from the females by the larger and higher head, the 

 thickened root of the tail, stouter hind-limbs, and generally superior size, are some 

 shade of green-olive, passing below into yellow. Black dots, passing into large 

 spots, generally adorn the upper surface, whereas the under-parts, save for a blue 

 patch on the chin and throat, are uniform. The females, in which the blue on the 

 throat is less constantly present, have a more brownish tinge, with the sides 

 ornamented with black-bordered yellowish spots. The young are generally leather- 

 brown in colour, with one or two yellow side-stripes. Both sexes vary, however, 

 considerably according to age ; and southern specimens are more brilliantly coloured 

 than those from the north. 



The green lizard is an inhabitant of the countries lying to the east and north 

 of the Mediterranean, and thence extending eastwards to Persia. Very common in 



