The common lizard, about six inches long, with
very bright eyes, has a tail which is so brittle, that if you were to catch
hold of it, it would break right off, and its late owner would dart away to
its hiding-place, leaving the old tail in your hand; itself growing a new
one.
The Sand-lizard, also found in England, is about twice the length of the
common lizard: it lives on sandy heaths, and like the turtle, lays its eggs
in the sand, to be hatched by the sun. But neither of our lizards is so
pretty as the little green one so common in the warmer countries of Europe.
It may be seen on walls, or by the wayside, basking in the sunshine, and
now and then darting at a fly. The whole species are, like the butterflies,
summer creatures, and hide themselves safely underground before winter
comes.
In the Reptile-house of the Zoological Gardens, I have often stood to look
at the largest kind of lizard; for the Crocodile, that huge animal with its
green glaring eyes, and its armour made of bony plates with sharp ridges,
is but an overgrown lizard. If you wish to form some idea of what it is
most like, you can look at one of the beautiful little newts which live in
some pond or ditch near you, and fancy it magnified many, many times, and
then you will not have a bad notion of the crocodile, the lizard of Africa,
or of the Cayman or Alligator, the great lizard of the New World.
[Illustration: CROCODILE.
Pages:
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311