Animal life of the British Isles : $b a pocket guide to the mammals, reptiles and batrachians of wayside and woodlandStep, Edward
History
Animal life of the British Isles : $b a pocket guide to the mammals, reptiles and batrachians of wayside and woodland
Step, Edward
Animals -- Great Britain
This species is the Furze Evvet of the New Forest, and the
Harriman of Shropshire. In Cheshire it is the Swift. In suitable
situations--sandhills, fallows, heaths, and moors--it may be found all
over Great Britain, including the Isle of Man, and in most localities
it is common. It is the one true reptile that Ireland possesses,
and it appears to occur in all parts of the island, though not in
any abundance. It appears (like the Natterjack) to have escaped the
attentions of St. Patrick when "He gave the snakes and toads a twist and
banished them for ever." Its wider distribution includes Northern and
Central Europe and Siberia, where it shows a preference for mountainous
and high-lying country.
*Sand Lizard* (_Lacerta agilis_, Linn.).
At a glance there is little beyond its superior size to distinguish
the Sand Lizard from the Common Lizard; and in consequence the earlier
records of its occurrence in certain localities have had to be severely
revised. It appears to have been the rule of many recorders, when
specimens of the common species that exceeded average proportions
were captured, to put them down as Sand Lizards without any critical
examination. The truth is that as a British species the Sand Lizard is
found only in certain restricted localities in the southern counties
of Dorset, Hampshire, and Surrey, and the sandhills by the sea in
Lancashire and Cheshire. Its southern habitats agree almost exactly
with those of the Smooth Snake, for which it provides a favourite food.
It is not found either in Scotland or Ireland.
The adult male of the Sand Lizard is about seven and a half inches long,
of which more than half is tail. The female is about half an inch
longer, but the additional measure is added to the body, for the tail
is less than half of the whole length. The general colouring may be
described as a sandy-brown, with broken bands of darker tint. There is,
of course, a considerable amount of colour variation, and in the males
there is a marked tendency to a green suffusion, which in many cases is
so pronounced as to lead to a belief that the examples in question are
the non-indigenous Green Lizard (_Lacerta viridis_). It was, no doubt,
some markedly green males of the Sand Lizard which Gilbert White saw "on
a sunny sandbank, near Farnham, in Surrey," and thought were true Green
Lizards. There are rows of dark and white spots along the sides of
the back, flank, and tail, which give the appearance of longitudinal
stripes. The green of the male is more pronounced during the breeding
season (May-June) when it is also evident in the usual black-dotted
yellow of the underside. The black spots along his sides have white
centres. The under parts of the female are cream coloured, and the
three rows of white-centred spots on the sides are dark brown.
[Illustration: _Pl. 88._ _K 140._
*Sand Lizard.*
The tail, seized by an aggressor, has been parted with.]
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