THE YOUNG NATUKA.LIST. 



249 



in the shape of a poison apparatus, and it 

 cannot offer the slightest defence to its num.- 

 erous enemies, which are snakes, vipers, 

 hawks, crows, weasels, &c. Its only means 

 of escape is by its marvellous agility. And 

 this even is sometimes but a poor safeguard, 

 since no fewer than fourteen of these little 

 reptiles, together with the remains of many 

 more, were once found in the crop of a rare 

 species of hawk, the Ash-coloured Harrier 

 (O. cineraceus), shot in Devonshire, in 

 1872. 



Like some other reptiles, this lizard is very 

 tenacious of life. I remember knocking over 

 my first specimen with a heavy blow of ray 

 walking stick, despairing of taking it in any 

 other way, and though it appeared quite dead, 

 yet it revived in a few minutes, and with a 

 wriggle of its tail sprang into the hedge as 

 lively as ever. 



In the month of July the young lizards are 

 are seen. Though commonly regarded and 

 indeed scientifically dubbed a viviparous 

 reptile, yet it is not strictly so, as it usually 

 produces eggs. These, however, burst in the 

 act of extrusion, and the young immediately 

 make their escape, often running about with 

 the fragments of the shells upon their backs. 

 Properly, therefore, this creature like the 

 viper is an ovo-viparous animal. The num- 

 ber of young varies from three to six. These 

 I have seen early in August, in company with 

 the old ones, basking in the sun on the felled 

 tree-trunks, being then apprently about a 

 fortnight or three weeks old. These little 

 lizards were of a dark brown colour, and by 

 no means so shapely as the old ones. Their 

 heads were flatter and broader, and very 

 similar in shape to that of the common warty 

 newt (jT. cristatus.) Though more clumsily 

 made, these juvenile lizards were almost as 

 active as the old ones, running after flies, and 

 watching intently the little hunting or tiger 

 spiders (S. scenicus) jerking about over the 

 trunks. 



In confinement the lizard is an interesting 



little creature, and may be rendered tame to 

 a certain extent. It is often kept in fern 

 cases, where it is of essential service in keep- 

 ing the plants free from aphides or blight. 



At the end of autumn the lizard retires to 

 its winter retreat, which is generally at the 

 root of some tree or shrub, and here, while 

 frosts bind with ice the earth, and the wintry 

 winds roar through the trees, the little crea- 

 ture lies snugly coiled up, till the sun of 

 March warms it to life again. A correspond- 

 ent of Science Gossip, when speaking of some 

 of these lizards in confinement, says that 

 when not allowed to torpify they support life 

 by drinking water freely, and that when 

 torpid it often proves fatal to awake 

 them. 



The following is a description of this lizard 

 — Its length when full grown never exceeds 

 six inches, its usual dimensions being between 

 five and six. The body is covered with 

 scales. The usual colour of the upper parts 

 is greenish or olive- brown, with a darker 

 stripe down each side of the back, and one 

 along the side. The underside is whitish or 

 orange spotted with black, the ground-colour 

 when light being sometimes tinged with blue 

 or green. The colour of the upper parts vary 

 considerably, sometimes being dark brown, 

 and sometimes brown with a reddish tinge. 

 The only other British Reptile with which 

 this is likely to be confounded is the sand 

 lizard {L. agilis), a much more uncommon 

 species than the subject of our sketch. The 

 best means of distinction between the two is 

 the more clumsy appearance, and greater size 

 and weight of agilis. In agilis likewise a few 

 tiny teeth are placed " on the back part of 

 the palate, and which are wanting in the 

 common lizard." The lizard is sometimes 

 thought to be a newt or eft by very young 

 and inexperienced naturalists, and for their 

 information I will merely say that the lizard's 

 tail is round, the newt's flattened at the 

 sides. 



Standlahe, Witney, Occon. 



