158 REPTILES OF THE WORLD 



attractive, being dull brown witli darker cross-bands; 

 some of the scales are tipped with white. 



Gerrhonotus kingii, of Arizona, New INIexico and 

 Mexico, is one of the prettiest of the genus. Pale green- 

 ish brown is the predominating hue, crossed by dark, 

 yellow-bordered bands. On the back, the scales are 

 bluntly keeled; the scales of the sides are quite smooth. 



The Genus Ophisaurus: Five snake-like species of 

 the Old and the New World form the genus. With 

 the exception of a pair of minute spikes at the vent of 

 two of the species, they are entirely devoid of external 

 limbs. 



As these lizards have an extremely brittle tail and 

 an aspect that is anything but lizard-like, they are gen- 

 erally known as The Glass "Snakes." Necessarily, 

 they move like serpents, by lateral undulations. They 

 exhibit a close relationship to Gerrhonotus in the pres- 

 ence of a deep fold on each side of the body. As the 

 novice might easily mistake one of them for a snake 

 it is well to understand that they have movable eyelids 

 and an ear-opening, characters not existing among the 

 serpents. 



The Sheltopusic or Glass "Snake," O. apus, ranges 

 generally over southeastern Europe, southwestern Asia 

 and northern Africa. This is the largest member of 

 the genus. A big specimen is four feet long and an 

 inch and a half in diameter at the thickest part of the 

 body. The body and tail are covered with thin, square 

 plates, set in ring-like fashion like shingles. To the 

 touch the entire animal is extraordinarily hard, feeling 

 actually bony; it looks as if it were freshly varnished. 

 Despite the serpentine form there is something about 

 the creature's looks and waj^s entirely foreign to a snake. 

 The proportionately large and distinct head, with its 



