LIZARDS 
171 
every day by taking them into 
the garden and placing them 
in communication with a 
swarming ant track. By care- 
ful observation it was found 
that no less than from 1,000 
to 1,500 ants were devoured 
by each lizard at a single 
sitting. The ant-devouring 
proclivities of these prickly 
little lizards can no doubt be 
turned to very useful and 
effective account in clearing 
ant-infested domiciles, and 
were in fact thus utilised by 
the writer on more than one 
occasion. 
The lizards included in the Agama Family are essentially inhabitants of the Eastern 
Hemisphere, none occurring in America. In the western continent, however, we find an 
equally extensive but structurally distinct group which presents many singularly corresponding 
types. This family comprises the true IGUANAS, many of them of considerable size, and a 
numerous assemblage of smaller forms. Among those species which present a striking parallel 
in size and aspect to the peculiarly characteristic Old World Agamas, mention may be made 
of the little so-called Horned Toad, or Spiny LiZxVRD, of California. This species might 
readily be taken by the uninitiated for a near relation of the Australian Moloch Lizard, or 
Mountain-devil, last described, its flattened diminutive form and bristling spiny armature 
seemingly justifying such a supposition. The crucial test afforded by the character of the 
dentition, however, distinctly indicates its true position to be with the Iguanas. In the Agamas 
the teeth are invariably developed from the apex, or summit, of the jaw. These teeth, 
moreover, are varied in character. 
In the Iguanas, on the other hand, 
the teeth are all more or less uni- 
form in character, and are attached 
to the outer sides of the jaw. 
The larger iguanas are, for the 
most part, exclusively fruit- and 
vegetable-feeders, and arboreal in 
their habits. The thick forest scrubs 
in the vicinity of streams and rivers 
are their favourite resort. After the 
manner of the Australian water- 
lizards, these Iguanas are expert 
swimmers, and delight in lying along 
the overhanging branches, whence 
at the slightest alarm they can pre- 
cipitate themselves into the water 
beneath. When swimming, the 
fore limbs are folded back against 
the sides, the tail only being used 
as a means of propulsion. Sev- 
eral of the larger Iguanas, such 
as the common or tuberculated 
Fhcto by Saville-Kenty F.Z.S, 
AUSTRALIAN WATER-LIZARD 
Showing attitude •when running 
Photo by IV, SavilU’Kent, F.Z.S. 
AUSTRALIAN WATER-LIZARD 
This lizard is of aquatic habits^ and runs on its hind legs when tra'versing long distances 
