174 THE LIVING ANIMALS OF THE WORLD 
P a 6 = the heloderm is the arid, sandy, 
and stony region on the western 
side of the Cordillera mountain- 
range. It is at the same time 
said to be rarely seen in those 
parts except during the rainy 
season, and also to be for the 
most part nocturnal in its habits. 
The family group of the 
MONITORS includes the largest 
of existing lizards, notably the 
semi-aquatic form common to 
North Australia and the Malay 
Peninsula and adjacent islands, 
which attains a length of 8 or 
10 feet, and is not infrequently 
He i aed ee RN NOR Sey METAL NUS ay 
PESO Head SBUBi EINES ine Ss mistaken, as it rushes, on being 
A GROUP OF MOUNTAIN-DEVILS OF CENTRAL AUSTRALIA disturbed, through the reeds and 
The spines of these lizards are so sharp that they will pierce a tender hand ; other rank herbage to the 
water, for a young crocodile. 
An exceedingly fine and well set-up example of these huge water-monitors, shot by Captain 
Stanley Flower in the neighbourhood of Singapore, is placed in the Reptile Gallery of the 
Natural History Museum. 
Another species, indigenous to the Southern Australian States, and having essentially 
arboreal habits, commonly attains to a length of 5 or 6 feet. The skin of one example of 
this species, obtained for the writer from the eucalyptus forests in Gippsland, Victoria, measures 
no less than 7 feet long. With reference to the elegant lace-like pattern of its skin-markings, 
this species is frequently associated with the suggestive title of the LACE-LIZARD. Among the 
more illiterate settlers it is generally known as a Gooana, the name being obviously a corruption 
of Iguana, and being, as a matter of fact, applied promiscuously, and in all cases incorrectly, 
to a number of the larger Australian lizards. 
All the members of the Monitor Tribe are inveterate egg-eaters. An Egyptian species, the 
NILE MONITOR, renders service to humanity through the gratification of this propensity in seek- 
ing out and devouring the eggs of the crocodile. The larger water-monitor of the North Australian 
and Malay regions has been reported to Se ie a a S See ee 
the writer to be particularly partial to FE 
the eggs of the turtle, digging them out | 
of the sand in which the parent deposits 
them, and destroying them wholesale. The 
more strictly arboreal Southern Australian 
species preys to a very large extent on 
birds’ eggs, climbing to the holes in 
the trunks and branches in which so 
many Australian birds build their nests, 
and not infrequently capturing and 
devouring also the parent birds and | 
young. In the ‘ bush” settlements 
this monitor is notorious for its depre- 
dations among the hen-roosts, both eggs | 
and young chickens falling victims to Te We) W. Saville-Kent, F.Z.S. 
its insatiable appetite. It is conse- HORNED TOAD 
quently regarded with but scant favour A spiny lizard, somewhat resembling the Australian mountain-devil 
