CHAPTER XXXVIII 

 THE ORDER OF LIZARDS 



LAC ERT ILIA 



Of all the world's reptiles, the lizards are the 

 most elusive, and the most difficult to know 

 personally. With the exception of the large 

 iguanas, monitors, and a very few others, the vast 

 majority of the species are tiny creatures, light- 

 ning-quick in movement, and very much opposed 

 to being caught. 



And the little sprites are difficult to keep in 

 captivity, beyond all other reptiles. Being 

 children of the sun and sands, they demand 

 quarters that are of desert dryness, roasting heat, 



partly or wholly covered with spines. The ma- 

 jority of lizards live upon the ground, or near the 

 earth, but quite a number of species live in trees. 

 Those called flying dragons possess parachute 

 wings, and can fly as a flying squirrel does. Some 

 of the legless lizards live in the earth. 



Most lizards have teeth, but usually of a very 

 simple character, setting in each jaw in a long 

 and rather even row, like the teeth of a saw. 



There are eighteen Families of lizards, provided, 

 with eighteen formidable names, and it is not 



COMMON IGUANA. 



and flooded with sunshine. Without these con- 

 ditions they refuse to eat, and quickly die. If 

 every student of lizards had a private desert 

 which he could keep heated up to 100 degrees, a 

 sun all his own to shine upon it sixteen hours a 

 day, and meal-worms without limit, it would be 

 quite possible to keep small lizards long enough 

 to become well acquainted with them. Without 

 such an equipment, the path of the student is 

 beset with difficulties. 



Because of these conditions, we will introduce 

 here only a very few of what we may call the 

 practicable lizards, — those which it is possible 

 to know, and worth while to note. 



General Character. — Most of the lizards are 

 four-footed creatures, many have long, whip-like 

 tails, and nearly all are covered with scales, 

 mostly very fine. Sometimes the scales are large 

 and horny. Quite a number of species are either 



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possible to consider each one. For the present 

 we will omit all references to the Families, and 

 merely present a few examples which will illus- 

 trate the Order as a whole. 



The Iguanas are among the largest and most 

 interesting of the Lizards, being surpassed in 

 size only by the Monitors. In their food habits 

 they are omnivorous. Although feeding chiefly 

 upon vegetable food, many species devour birds 

 and eggs with great avidity. In their habits they 

 are partly tree-climbing and partly terrestrial. 

 By reason of their saw-toothed backs they are 

 so odd and showy they always attract attention. 

 Were it necessary to select but one species to 

 represent all the species of Lizards, that one 

 should be the Common Iguana 1 of the West 

 Indies, Central and South America. It is from 

 4 to 5 feet in length, in color it is an irregular 

 1 1-guan'a tu-ber-cu-la'ta. 



