THE NILOTIC MONITOR, OR VARAN OF THE NILE. 



41 



toes that it becomes a task of no small difficulty to dislodge it, even though it be easily reached. 

 Under such circumstances the strength of no one man is able to withdraw a full-grown indi- 

 vidual, and I have seen two persons required to pull a specimen out of a position it had 

 attained, even with the assistance of a rope tied in front of its hinder legs. The moment it 

 was dislodged it flew with fury at its enemies, who by flight only saved themselves from 

 being bitten. After it was killed, it was discovered that the points of all the nails had been 

 previously broken or at the moment it lost its hold. 



WHITE-THROATED REGENIA.— Regenia aZbogularis. 



••It feeds upon crabs, frogs, and small quadrupeds, and from its partiality to the two 

 former, it is often found among rocks near running streams, which fact having been observed 

 by the natives, has led them to regard it as sacred, and not to be injured without danger 

 of drought." 



This tine Lizard has large, oblique nostrils, a shortish tail with a double keel on its upper 

 surface, and the scales are oblong and have a blunt ridge or keel. The head is short and the 

 scales of the body are large, convex, and surrounded with granulations. The length of the 

 full-grown Regenia is nearly five feet, and its color is dark brown, above variegated with large 

 white spots, and paler beneath, especially under the throat. 



The Nilotic Monitor, or Varan of the Nile, as it is sometimes called, is, as its name 

 imports, a native of those parts of Africa through which the Nile, its favorite river, flows. 



The natives have a curious idea that this reptile is hatched from crocodile's eggs that have 

 been laid in hot elevated spots, and that in process of time it becomes a, crocodile. This odd 

 belief is analogous to the notion so firmly implanted in the minds of our own sea-side 



Vol. III.— 6. 



