■368 THE STORY OF ' THE LIZARD. 
a horse-shoe, or semi-lunar shape, set crosswise, which, together with the 
equal-sized scales over the eyes, serve as marks which readily distinguish it 
from many other species. The under parts are gray, with cross bands of 
black, and marked with white spots when young. 
The lizards commonly known as flying dragons are elegant and harmless 
little creatures to whom such a title seems inappropriate, and therefore I 
prefer to substitute the name of flying lizards. These flying lizards, which 
are represented by twenty-one species, ranging over the greater part of the 
WATER MONITORS ROBBING A NEST. 
Oriental region., are at once distinguished from all their kindred by the de¬ 
pressed body being provided with a large wing-like membranous expansion, 
capable o<f being folded up like a fan. The throat is furnished with a large 
membranous expansion, on the sides of which are a smaller pair; and the 
tail is long and whipdike. The best known of the species is the Malay flying 
lizard. 
The flying lizards generally frequent the crown of trees, and as they 
are comparatively scarce, and seldom descend to> the ground, they are but 
