122 
LIZARDS . 
than 13 inches, this species is noticeable for its brilliant coloration in the living 
state, although the hues rapidly fade away after death. When alive, the head is 
flame-red, the throat spotted with yellow, and the body and limbs a deep steel-blue, 
while along the middle of the back there is generally a whitish line. The lower 
surface of the basal half of the tail is yellowish, the corresponding upper portion 
steely blue, as is the tip, while the remainder is red. Very old specimens have, 
however, both surfaces of the base of the tail blue, the remainder of the upper 
surface, except a small blue tip, being red. Females are at all ages, much more 
soberly coloured. In some spots these agamas are found in swarms, being very 
fond of climbing up the mud-walls and mat-roofs of the native huts, at times 
basking motionless in the sun, and at others running rapidly about in search of 
insects. When approached by a human being, they raise and depress their heads 
in a series of nods, which increase in rapidity as the intruder draws near, till, 
finally, the creatures lose courage, and disappear, with the speed of lightning, 
into some crack or cranny. So brilliant do these gorgeously-coloured lizards 
appear, when basking in the midday rays of an African sun, that the observer is 
fain to believe he is gazing on some splendid insect rather than a reptile. 
Rough-Tailed Belonging to a group of the genus distinguished from the one 
Agama. containing the species described above by the absence of enlargement 
of the occipital scale of the head, the rough-tailed agama (A. stellio), depicted in the 
illustration on p. 105, is interesting as being one of the two members of the genus 
whose range extends into South-Eastern Europe. Whereas, however, the other 
members of the group have the tail more or less ringed, the rough-tailed agama, 
together with the second European species (A. caucasica ) and a third (A. microlepis), 
are peculiar in that the tail is divided into distinct segments, each composed of a pair 
of rings of scales. Growing to nearly a foot in length, the species under con¬ 
sideration is distinguished by its stout body and the moderate degree of depression 
of the head; the cheeks of the male being somewhat swollen. The colour of the 
upper-parts is olive, spotted with black, and generally with a series of large yellow 
or olive spots down the middle of the back; the throat of the male having fine 
bluish grey net-like markings. Occurring in Europe, in Turkey, and certain 
islands of the Aegean Sea, the rough-tailed lizard is distributed over the whole 
of Asia Minor, Syria, Northern Arabia, and Egypt, being much more common in 
the latter regions than it is in Europe. To the Arabs it is known by the name 
of lcardun ; and it is commonly tamed and kept in captivity by the itinerant 
snake-charmers of Egypt. As shy and agile in its movements as its congeners, 
it feeds largely on flies and butterflies, which are captured with remarkable address 
and agility. 
Before taking leave of this extensive genus, it may be mentioned that there is 
a third group, agreeing with the last in the small size of the occipital scale of the 
head, but distinguished by the absence of rings on the tail; the agile agama (A. 
agilis ) of Persia being a well-known example. The genus Pltrynoceplialus of 
South-Eastern Europe and Central Asia comprises rather more than a dozen lizards 
nearly allied to Agama, but easily distinguished by the concealed aperture of the ear. 
Australian Although the swollen callous scales in front of the vent in the 
FriHed Lizard. ma l GS G f the agamas have some resemblance to them, the whole of 
