THE YOUNG NATUEALIST. 



It may be distinguished by the stems 

 being remarkably bent at the base, 

 and the root creeps extensively a- 

 mongst the loose sand ; the whole 

 plant is also covered with a glaucous 

 bloom. The meadow barley (H.pratense) 

 grows in grassy places by roadsides, 

 and in old pastures, it is tall, slender, 

 erect, with a head scarcely exceeding 

 three inches in length, it is not un- 

 common in England, but does not ex- 

 tend into Scotland. The rarest of the 

 four is the wood barley (27. sylvaticum) , 

 which is the only one that grows in 

 woods ; it may be known by its broad 

 rough hairy leaves and tall stem, it is 

 I not by any means an attractive plant, 

 ! but its comparative scarcity makes it 

 prized by the collector. 



THE COMMON LIZARD 



(Zootoca vivipam.) 



By W. H. Warner. 



To see the little lizard in its natural haunts, 

 all you have to do is to make an excursion 

 on a fine sunny day to some heath in your 

 neighbourhood, and you will not be dis- 

 ! appointed, particularly if you happen to live 

 in the southern counties of England. As 

 you force your way through the golden furze- 

 bushes, or masses of purple heather, you 

 every now and then become aware that some 

 small creature has darted away with a quick 

 rustle as you approached, and though you 

 search the spot with great minuteness, yet 

 you fail to discover what it was. Adopt the 

 quiet, stealthy, burglar-like tread of the 

 naturalist for a hundred y arris or so, and you 



247 



will be more successful. You will soon dis- 

 cover a small brown creature slowly picking 

 its way among the grass, and if you are un- 

 skilled in reptile lore you will probably 

 imagine it to be an eft. Should the little 

 creature be alarmed by your approach, it will 

 give a quick rustle, and disappear like a flash 

 among the herbage, but if it be merely sus- 

 picious, it will turn its snaky-looking head, 

 and gaze at you with its bright intelligent 

 eye. The first time I made the acquaintance 

 of this little reptile I felt somewhat discon- 

 certed by its inquisitive stare ; its eye is very 

 bright and expressive, even more so than the 

 toad, which has been remarked for its great 

 beauty. 



Wherever there are furzy places in the 

 southern counties, theie, as I said before, 

 the little lizard makes its home. It seems to 

 love elevated localities, and in addition to 

 heaths occurs on dry banks, and on the 

 borders of woods. In this parish it was at 

 one time a common diversion of the boys of 

 the neighbourhood to chase these little rep- 

 tiles among the bushes, and this amusement 

 was known among the urchins as " eft-hunt- 

 ing." On the heaths and commons in the 

 neighbourhood of London the little lizard 

 occurs quite commonly, and as far as I know 

 it also found in every other part of Great 

 Britain, even Ireland. In the latter country, 

 however, it is by no means plentiful, accord- 

 ing to the following communication I received 

 from a gentleman residing in the county of 

 Kildare. "In Eildare and neighbouring 

 counties this lizard is very rare. I have only 

 seen two specimens in my life. According to 

 some correspondence in the Field I find it is 

 not uncommon in Donegal and Westmeath. 

 Reported instances of its occurrence in 

 Queen's County were incorrect, the lizards (?) 

 as they were called proving to be Smooth- 

 newts {L. punctatus) hybernating." 



Having passed the winter in a torpid state, 

 the lizard, warmed by the genial rays of the 

 spring sun, comes forth from its retr?at. 



