408 THE ZOOLUGIST. 
OrnitHonocicaL Notes rrom Norroix, 1878.— The full title to 
Mr. Stevenson’s communication under this heading in the August number 
of this Journal (p. 325) should have been “ Ornithological Notes from 
Norfolk for 1878 ana 1879.” 
ON THE PERIOD AND INTERVALS AT WHICH THE Common LizarD 
casts 11s Sxiv.—I have long been aware that our Common Lizard, 
Zootoca vivipara, periodically casts its skin; but I have lately discovered, 
to my surprise, that no mention of this fact is made either in Bell’s 
‘History of British Reptiles’ or in ‘Our Reptiles,’ by M. C. Cooke, the 
two familiar text-books ou the subject. Neither is any information on this 
point afforded by the excellent ‘Manual of British Vertebrate Animals,’ by 
the Rey. L. Jenyns, nor in Lord Clermont’s ‘ Guide to the Quadrupeds 
and Reptiles of Europe.’ Indeed, at the present moment, I can only 
remember to have met with one allusion to this change of skin in the 
Lizard, and this, a very brief one, is contained in Fleming’s ‘ History of 
British Animals.’ That author writes as follows (p. 151):—‘ Colours vary 
with the condition of the cuticle, which is frequently renewed. Before 
casting, the colours are brownish black; after they change, dark green and 
yellow tints prevail.” There being, then, such a dearth of information on 
the subject, I cannot doubt that the following observations, made during 
the present summer by my friend Miss C. Hopley, will be perused with 
interest. ‘This lady, who has for some time past been engaged in a special 
study of the Reptilia, writes as follows:—‘‘ A small English Lizard, 
Zootoca vivipara, in my possession has cast her coat three times within 
seven weeks. Her first change was on June 26th, the rough, dingy garment 
of last year’s growth coming off in pieces. Whereas the colouring had been 
dull and almost undefined, behold the little creature now in a dress of pale 
sage-green, with stripes of rich dark velvet, her throat creamy white, and 
the whole under part of a beautiful buff colour, soft, smooth, bright, and 
shaded like a delicate shell. On July 20th, with no previous indication 
(except that the new attire was not very tight-fitting—a circumstance 
attributable to sparseness of diet), this still lovely garment was cast off 
eutire, and reversed—even the sleeves are there. ‘The claw-coverings of 
the hind legs were detached from the rest, and look like diminutive gloves. 
Her colour this time might be just a trifle darker above, but still of the 
same delicate hue, and with very slight indications of spots. On the 
afternoon of August 15th, and within three-quarters of an hour from the 
time I had placed the glass cage in the sunshine, I was surprised to find a 
third cast-off dress, and in a still more perfect condition than the former 
sloughs, one sleeve being entire to the very tips of the slender fingers. 
One leg is equally entire and wnreversed, showing that she had slipped the 
limb easily out of it. Another Lizard, Lacerta agilis, donned her summer 
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