AUGUST. 209 



eggs. Recently, a resident of May's Landing has informed 

 me tliat the eggs " are said to be laid in bunches," but 

 just what is meant by being " bunched " I am at a loss to 

 understand. They certainly are not attached to each 

 other by any agglutinating substance. At least, the fe- 

 male lizards in my pens laid only dry, free eggs, which 

 they deposited in conical pits, one egg, the lowermost, 

 being in the bottom, then three above it, and four in the 

 third tier. Such was the position in two sets of eggs, 

 while the others were scattered over the sand in bewilder- 

 ing confusion. None of these hatched, the. failure to do 

 so, inasmuch as they were fertile, being due, I believe, to 

 the surroundings being too dry. Probably a certain 

 amount of decaying vegetable matte!f is mingled with the 

 sand when the eggs are laid, and thus a moist heat is pro- 

 duced, which is as necessary as it is in the case of the eggs 

 of the alligators and crocodiles. 



The ova laid by my penned lizards were long, narrow, 

 covered with a tough skin, free from calcareous matter, 

 and varied in weight from twenty to twenty-four grains. 

 At May's Landing, I am told, the eggs are usually laid 

 about June 1st, and hatch about July 10th. 



While the abandonment of their eggs in this appar- 

 ently heartless manner leads to the supposition that they 

 are indifferent to their offsprings' welfare, which is true, 

 it is somewhat interesting to notice how very tolerant they 

 are of the petty annoyances to which their own or anoth- 

 er's young subject them. My observations on this point 

 were made from a number of young and old confined in a 

 roomy Wardian case, but probably what I there saw holds 

 good among the lizards in their native haunts. I am sure 

 it did among the many living on the old trestle at May's 

 Landing. Often a little lizard, and sometimes two, would 

 perch upon the head and back of an adult, and there be 

 allowed to sit for fully an hour. The sharp claws of these 



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