22 



THE COMMON LIZARD. 



(Zootoca vivipara.) 



Enlarged view of the upper surface of the head, showing the form and 

 arrangement of the plates.* 



THE Scaly or viviparous Lizard is a common 

 inhabitant of heaths and banks in elevated dis- 

 tricts in England and Scotland, whilst it appears 

 to have been one of the few reptiles which St. 

 Patrick permitted to remain within the limits 

 of the Emerald Isle. To what circumstance such 

 forbearance in this instance is due chroniclers 

 seem to have been unable to tell. In some 

 seasons, as for instance in I860, this lizard is 



* Milne-Edwards in "Ann. des Sc. Nat.," ser. i. vol. 

 xvi. t. 5, f. 5. 



