BIB RON’S GERRHOSAURUS. 
51 
yellow on the back, sides, and tail, fading into yellow on the head, and white on the under 
parts. This species may be distinguished from the other Cordyles by the smooth shields of 
the head and the rhomboidal-shaped scales of the back, which are larger in the centre than on 
the sides, and decidedly keeled. On the flanks the keels are so long as to become spines, and 
the sides of the neck are covered with sharp spine-like scales. 
The False Cordyle is placed in a separate genus, on account of the shape and size of 
the scales upon the back and sides. Instead of being large and tolerably even in size, as in 
the preceding genus, they are very small and granular, alternating with bands of larger scales, 
which are three-sided, convex, and slightly keeled. These scales are largest on the sides of 
the back. The generic name Microlepidotus signifies small-scaled, and is given to these creat- 
ures in allusion to the minute scales of the back and sides. 
The habits of this reptile are much like those of the previous species. Dr. A. Smith 
writes as follows respecting this creature, after describing the singular variations of color to 
which it is subject : — 
‘ ‘ Each of the varieties appeared to be restricted to its own localities, and, so far as my 
observations extend, no specimens of two varieties are ever found in the same localities. All 
the varieties inhabit rocky situations ; and, when they have a choice, they invariably prefer 
precipices and the stony walls of difficultly accessible ravines. In this situation they wander 
carelessly, in search of food or warmth, unless alarmed by what they may regard as enemies. 
On being closely approached in their retreats, they are with difficulty captured, as, by aid of 
the prominences on the hinder edge of each temple, they hold on with a tenacity which is 
quite surprising ; and by them they occasionally offer such an effectual resistance to the force 
applied from behind, that the tail breaks off from the body before the reptile is secured. ’ 5 
As, in Dr. Smith’s work, the description of the different varieties occupy nearly five quarto 
pages of letter-press, it is evidently impossible to give more than a general description in this 
volume. Suffice it to say, that in one variety, found on the Table Mountain and about Cape 
Town, the color is ochry -yellow above, banded with dark brown ; in another, which inhabits 
the rocks about Algoa Bay, it is yellow, with bold, black bars along the back ; another, which 
lives on the banks of the Orange Elver, is brown above, warming into bright chestnut in the 
male, and olive-green mottled with dusky black in the female ; and a fourth variety, which is 
fonnd in the high, mountainous regions about Natal, is bright green, with an olive-green stripe 
and short bars of the same tint across the back. The tail is also banded with two shades of 
green, one a deep olive, and the other having a much yellower hue. The female of this variety 
is without the bands, and is only mottled with dark olive, and spotted with the same hue along 
the sides. The length of the False Cordyle is about eighteen inches. 
A small group of reptiles is collected under the generic title of Grerrhosauri, or Basket- 
Lizards, because the arrangement of their scales and coloring has an effect as if the body 
had been covered with delicate wicker-work, such as is employed to protect glass flasks from 
injury. 
These Lizards are natives of Southern Africa, where they are far from uncommon. They 
are all rather pretty in form and coloring, but the most pleasing in general appearance is 
Bibroy’s (xERRHOSAItrtjs ( Gerrhosaurus bibroni). This animal is found near the Orange 
Eiver, and may be seen slipping about among the rocky sides of the dark ravines that are so 
plentiful in that neighborhood. It is a very shy and timid creature, and if it fancies itself 
watched by an unfriendly eye, or suspects the least shadow of danger, it quietly glides under 
the heap of dead wood and dried leaves which collect in abundance in such localities, and will 
not venture out again until it is tolerably sure that the danger has passed away. 
As is the case with most of these Lizards, there is considerable variation of coloring, but 
in general the upper surface is dark brown, and the sides of the head, the throat, and front of 
the fore limbs are bright scarlet. Along the back run four yellow lines, of which the two 
central only extend as far as the hind legs, whereas the two outer streaks are continued to the 
extremity of the tail. It is not a large species, being about ten or eleven inches in length. 
