580 THE LIVING ANIMALS OF THE WORLD 



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photo by H . bavilU-kinl, l-.Z.S.'] 



BLUE-TONGUED LIZARDS 



A jcmalc icith her family of t^usli'e 



salmon-pink. The tongue of 



this lizard, which gives to it 



its popular title, is somewhat 



remarkable. It is large and 



flat, and of a bright blue tint, 



resembling nothing so much 



as a piece of blue flannel. 



The animal, as it moves about, 



is in the habit of constantly 



protruding and retracting its 



tongue, which consequently 



^ constitutes a very conspicuous 



'^ object. In common with the 



■> majority of its allies, the blue- 



1 tongued lizard is viviparous; 



' but while the stump-tail only 



produces one at a time, which 



is nearly half as large as the 



parent, the present form gives 



birth to as many as ten or 



twelve. An example in the writer's possession on one occasion presented him with a litter 



embracing the larger number, and afforded the material for the photograph here reproduced. 

 As a contrast to the two preceding forms, the S PINE-TAILED LIZARDS, with their short, flat, 



spiky tails, may be cited as a conclusion to this notice of the Skink Family. There are 



nine known members of the same genus, all inhabitants of Australia. The lower of the two 



forms here figured is especially abundant on one island of the Abrolhos group, off the 



Western Australian coast. This example is represented at about two-thirds of its natural 



size. It is an interesting fact that an allied but considerably larger species monopolises 



a neighbouring island of the same group, the two species not intermingling: probably 



the larger one would prey on the smaller. The largest member of the genus, known 



as Cunningham's Spine-tail, of a uniform black hue, peppered white, is not infrequently 



brought to Europe, and two examples which were for some years in the writer's possession bred 



regularly, producing eifjht 



or ten j'oung at a tmie ^> ' . ~'^-'*»C'. .*•*'*» , -'*»*^ 



for several consecutive )'ears. 



The fact that these lizards 



enjoyed full liberty in a 



heated greenhouse, with a 



temperature and surrounding 



conditions closely identical 



with those to which they 



were naturally accustomed, no 



doubt contributed extensively 



to their fertility. 



With this group we are 



compelled by lack of space 



to close our account of the 



true lizards, but the reader 



must understand that onl)' a 



very few out of an enormous 



number have been mentioned 



at all. 







fill ly II 



" ' -^ H [M,lf'rdm Sf» 



SPINE-TAILED LIZARDS, WESTERN AUSTRALIA 



These ilzarJi are eaentialh I'egclar^an in iheir habin 



