358 



ZOOLOGY 



body and long spines on the head, and hves in dry, sandy 

 places, is a familiar oljjeet.' In the South Central and South- 

 ern States lives the elongated " swift," of varying color, often 

 with black, irregular cross bands above, with iridescent colors 

 on the throat of the male, and with large, strongly keeled scales 



Fig. 33G. — Lacerta viridis, the green lizard of Europe. After Brehn:i. 



and a slender tail. The largest of the Iguanidie is the " leguan " 

 of the West Indies and South America, which gains a length 

 of 1.75 metres, or over five feet. 



The family of water-lizards, or Varan'idi"e,- contains the 

 largest known lizards. The Nile varanus attains a length of 

 nearly two metres. It lives in the rivers of Africa, feeds on 

 small crustaceans, birds, birds' eggs, frogs, fish, and occasion- 



^ Fig. 3.35. ^ Latinized from the Arabic word iraran, lizard. 



