142 



KEARTONS' NATURE PICTURES 



A TAILLESS FEMALE COMMON LIZARD. 



break off if only a slight amount of 

 violence be used in capturing the creature 

 as it scuttles through the grass or heather 

 to its retreat. It is capable, however, 

 of growing it again, but the process 

 appears to be a very slow one judging 

 from the late of progress made in the 

 case of a member of this species which, 

 at the time of writing this article, I 

 am keeping under observation inside a 

 forcing frame in my garden. 



The gravid female figured in our 

 illustration had lost her caudal 



appendage when I found her on a 

 Surrey common, and at a distance 

 of a few feet it was difficult to dis- 

 tinguish one end of her from the 

 other. She was very savage and hung 

 on to my finger as a ferret would cling 

 to a rat. 



The Blind-worm or Slow-worm, which 

 enjoys two of the most inaccurate popu- 

 lar names ever given to any creature, 

 although much like a snake in appear- 

 ance, is in reality a legless lizard in 

 possession of what true snakes lack, 

 viz. : eyelids which it can close at will. 

 I am always sorry when I see people with 

 a prejudice gained from the first chapters 

 of Genesis, or an instinctive aversion 

 handed down from their forefathers who 

 dwelt in caves, slaying this inoffensive 

 and useful creature with savage ferocity. 

 It measures from ten to fourteen or 

 fifteen inches in length, is covered with 

 small scales and casts its skin like a snake. 

 The Slow-worm feeds upon slugs and 

 worms. 



