552 



LACERTAE 



marvellous change in the same individual, which on dull, rainy, 

 or cold days lies in its hole, or shows only sluggish movements. 

 Their sense of locality is great, or rather each individual inhabits 

 one place, of which it knows every nook and corner, cranny, tree, 

 and bush. It has its favourite hole to sleep in, a stone, the 

 branch of a tree, or a wall to bask upon, and when disturbed or 

 chased it makes with unerring swiftness for a safe spot to retire 

 into. The same lizard, when once driven away from its own 

 locality, seems to lose all its presence of mind, ilounders 

 about, and is comparatively easily caught. Most lizards are 

 extremely curious, although shy, and this state of their mind can 



= LAOERTIDAE. 



Fig. 143. — Map showing the distribution of the Lacertidae. 



be made use of by those who want to catch them without injury, 

 and above all without eetting the animal minus the brittle tail. 

 This safe way of catching lizards consists in taking a thin rod 

 with a running noose of thread at the end, in drawing the 

 latter over the lizard's head, and then raising it. The little 

 creature does not mind the rod in the least ; on the contrary, it 

 watches it carefully, and often makes for the thread. The boys in 

 Southern Italy have improved upon and simplified this mode of 

 catching lizards by bending the end of a wisp of grass into a 

 noose, and covering the latter over with a thin film of saliva. 

 The shiny film, like a soap-bubble, is sure to excite the curiosity 

 of the creature. The late Professor Eimer ^ refers to this practice 



' Organic Evolution. Translation, London, 1890. 



