128 



LIZARDS. 



repose it generally rests with the head so raised as to be on the level of the back. 

 Its chief food appears to be ants, although vegetable substances are sometimes 

 eaten. The female deposits her eggs in the sand. To a certain degree the moloch 

 is endued with the power of changing its colour to harmonise with its surround- 

 ings, such changes taking j)lace very gradually, although not unfrequently. The 

 most general change is to a uniform sandy slate, or russet colour, when the 

 ornamental markings almost completely disappear. In spite of its ferocious and 

 somewhat forbidding appearance, the moloch is a perfectly harmless creature, its 



MOLOCH lizard (nat. size). 



formidable-looking armour being never used for attack. In captivity it is dull 

 and sluggish, undergoing fasts of a month's duration without any apparent incon- 

 venience. 



The Iguaxoid Lizards. 



Family Iguanid^. 



The extensive family of lizards, of which the well-known iguanas of South 

 America and the West Indies are the typical representatives, may be regarded as 

 occupying the same position in America as is filled by the agamoids in the warmer 

 parts of the Old World. Whereas, however, the agamoids are exclusively denizens 

 of the Eastern Hemisphere, the iguanoid lizards are not absolutely confined to, the 



