This and other allied species appear to be dead as they lie basking in the sun.
The varying individual shades of the Green Lizard's brilliant emerald body are almost infinite, no two being quite precisely alike in this respect. In some a yellower, in others a bluer green predominates, while the females and young are more or less mottled or striped with brown. The under surface of the body is usually a more or less bright yellow, and the throat, in the males more particularly, at the breeding-season is frequently brilliant blue. The more conspicuous colour differences exhibited by this lizard are, however, intimately associated with the local habitat of the particular race. Those indigenous to Spain and Portugal, for example, are more or less ornamented with ocellated spots along the sides of the head and body, while those peculiar to Eastern Europe and Asia Minor are, in the young condition more particularly, marked with longitudinal streaks, but their throat is never blue.
Photo by the New York Zoological Society. Printed at Lyons, France.
THE WEST AFRICAN PYTHON.
This splendid snake is said to grow to a length of over twenty feet, although such giants are only occasionally met with.
Photo by H. G. F. Spurrell, Esq.] [Eastbourne.
GREEN LIZARD.
The tail of the green lizard is brittle, and breaks off in the hand if the animal is held up by it. A new tail grows from the fractured joint in course of time.