TRUE LIZARDS. 



*59 



(exclusive of Madagascar), but most abundant in Africa, and comparatively rare in 

 the Oriental countries. Taking the place in the Old World occupied in the New 

 by the greaved lizards, these reptiles are readily distinguished from the latter by 

 the temporal fossa of the skull being roofed over with bone (as shown in the figure 

 of the skeleton on p. 108), and likewise by the shields of the head being firmly 

 attached to the underlying bones, as well as by the union of the two premaxillary 

 bones, the latter feature being common to this family and the amphisbaenas. All 

 of them have well-developed limbs, each furnished with five toes, the body plump, 

 and separated by a well-marked neck from the head, the tail long and brittle, the 

 drum of the ear exposed, and the eyelids distinct and generally freely mobile. The 

 skin contains no bony plates; the scales of the back are either overlapping or in 

 apposition ; while those of the under surface are generally larger, and arranged in 

 longitudinal and transverse rows. The teeth are always attached to the sides of 

 the edges of the jaws (pleurodont), and differ from those of the grooved lizards in 

 their hollow bases ; those of the cheek-series having two- or three-cusped crowns. 

 The flat and scaled tongue is of considerable length, and cleft both in front and 

 behind, so as to assume the form of an arrow-head. As a rule, pores are present 

 on the hinder surface of the thigh. 



Out of about one hundred species of true lizards, two are found in the British 

 Islands, where, with the exception of the blind- worm, they are the only represent- 

 atives of the suborder ; but many others inhabit Southern Europe. Lizards of 

 this family are veritably creatures of the sun, delighting to bask in its rays on 

 some warm sandy bank, wall, or rock, and retiring to their holes and crannies in 

 cloudy or rainy weather. The more powerful and bright is the sun, the more 

 active, indeed, do these reptiles become, since most of them are dull and listless in 

 the mornings and evenings, and only wake to full activity in the midday glare. 

 Over the greater part of Europe they begin to spend a large portion of their time 

 in their holes, and with the commencement of October retire for their winter sleep, 

 from which they do not awake till spring is well advanced. Comparatively rare 

 in Northern Europe, in the south of the continent lizards are common enough to 

 form an attractive feature in the landscape, their burnished metallic green and 

 bronzy scales flashing in the sunlight on every wall, and in every road and path. 

 The darting movements of these pretty reptiles, as they are in pursuit of the flies 

 and other small insects which constitute their chief prey, are familiar to all. 

 While the majority lay eggs, the viviparous lizard produces living young. 



The pearly lizard {Lacerta ocellata) of Southern Europe, which 

 Pearly Lizard. . r J v \ r ' 



is also represented by a variety in Algeria, may be taken as our first 



example of the typical genus Lacerta, of which there are over twenty species, 



inhabiting Europe, North and West Asia, Africa north of the Sahara, and the 



Atlantic islands. The members of this group, which may be collectively designated 



collared lizards, are distinguished by the following features. The body is cylindrical 



or slightly depressed ; the head pyramidal, with upright sides ; the neck not very 



well defined : and the tail cylindrical, tapering, and long. The throat is furnished 



with a well-marked collar of enlarged scales; the scales on the back are smaller 



than those on the tail, and are at most but slightly overlapping; while the shields 



of the under surface are squared, and slightly overlapping. The rounded or com- 



