THE LIZARDS 179 



tidcB are insectivorous. Some are cannibalistic. Most 

 of them lay thin-skinned eggs, a few are viviparous. 



The familiar European lizards are members of the 

 genus Lacerta, which, in all, embraces over twenty spe- 

 cies. The scales on the back are very small. On the 

 throat a row of enlarged shields form a well-defined 

 collar. 



The Green Lizaed, Lacerta viridis, is an abundant 

 and beautiful species of central and southern Europe 

 and southwestern Asia. Most European specimens are 

 of a vivid, uniform green. In southern Europe, thence 

 westward, varieties are found that are dotted or streaked 

 with yellow. Many examples have the lips and throat 

 dyed with a rich dark blue. The abdomen is generally 

 pale yellow. 



A number of these attractive reptiles have formed a 

 part of the writer's collection. His largest specimen 

 was sixteen inches long. Ten or eleven inches, however, 

 is the ordinary length. Kept in a vivarium that is not 

 too damp, Green Lizards will live for years. They dig 

 hiding places in the form of regular burrows or scoop 

 out cavities under the rocks into which they always 

 retire for the night, seldom becoming confused in their 

 respective lairs. After a while their appetite prompts 

 curiosity, even toward the human observer. They soon 

 learn readilj^ to take grubs and meal worms from the 

 fingers and should be fed a diet of varied insect larva, 

 as too manjr of the hard-shelled forms block the reptiles' 

 intestines with hard chitinous fragments. Several of 

 the writer's specimens took readily to a mixture of raw 

 eggs and shreds of beef, well stirred together. 



Care should be taken not to pick up a Green Lizard 

 by the tail, for that appendage is very brittle. If the 

 lizard is suddenly frightened, it is apt to give a quick 



