Lizards 



573 



by poultry- farmers, ^vho frequently organise a "gooana" l,unt for its special destruction If 

 surprised out ur the open, the quarry at once ruslu-s for a tree, and manifests the most remark- 

 able ag-dity in "swarming" up the smooth, massive trunk, and in dodging round to the side 

 opposite to that on which the sportsman approaches. Kot infre.juently, trees being remote, 



heusion the best substitute for one — 



the monitor will make for what ai)pears to its ajiprelr 



fiz. the upright figure of the nearest si,ortsman. Sh.aild this happen to be a "new chum" 

 enjoying his maiden essay in " gooana " hunting, lie will undoubtedly experience a new 



chrws, unceremoniously scrambles up to liis 



sensation as the animal, with its sharp cat-like 



head and shoulders. 



Brought to bay, a monitor 



possesses a more formidable weapon 



than its teeth and claws wherewith 



to repulse the onslaught of the 



enemy. The long-, touch, thono-- 



like tail— not brittle and replace- 

 able, as in many other lizards — 



is converted, for the time being, 



into a veritable stock-whip, wdiere- 



with it will most severely jJunish 



incautious aggressors who venture 



too near. The potency of this 



offensive and defensive weapon is 



fully recognised by the rejitile- 



keepers at the Zoo, who freelv 



admit their reluctance to enter 



the cage of one of these large, 



long-tailed, but conversely very 



short-tempered monitors. All of 



the monitors, in consonance with 



their pjre-eminently carnivorous 



habits, are more or less savage and 



intractable. The several sp)ecies 



which have fallen within the writer's 



cognisance jiroved no exception to 



the rule. An Egyptian example, 



injudiciously introduced to the select society of his extensive miscellaneous collection in 



a heated greenhouse, proved to be a veritable wolf in the fold, killing several of the 

 choicest specimens before its vindictive propensities were detected and arrested. A corn- 

 2iaratively small and rare sjiiny-tailed monitor, brought by the writer, in company with 

 the frilled lizards, to England from North-west Australia, would harass and bite any other 

 lizard placed with it, and resent every friendly overture on the 2)art of its owner, even 

 after so much as a whole twelvemonth's persistent attempts to tame it. Another, the 

 South Australian monitor, or lace-lizard, was no exception to the rule, and had to be 

 maintained in solitary confinement. This particular specimen, nevertheless, evinced, as the 

 followdng anecdote will show, a very iironounced affection for its provided quarters. One 

 day it effected its escape from the wire-enclosed cage with which it was accommodated in 

 the writer's Brisbane garden, and after prolonged but unsuccessful searchings it was given 

 up for lost. Considerable astonishment was naturally experienced some ten days later, 

 when the animal was discovered in the garden making frantic attempts to regain access 

 to its former itrison-house. During its ten days' absence it had evidently fallen upon evil 

 times, for not only was it in a very emaciated condition, but also bereft of its long and 

 handsome tail. Apparently, after the manner of its tribe, it had been manifesting a too warm 



Fhulii Iju n'. liacUU-Keat, F.Z..^ \ 



HOEXED TOAD. 

 This species is ijigbl}' ijiized for its insect-destroyiog proclivitii 



[Miljurd-oit-liw.. 



