. The animal creation: a popular introduction to zoology. Zoology. :]94 LIZARDS. The Gallywasp of the West Indies {Celestus occiduus) feeds on Fig. 326.—gallywasp. The Monitors {Varanidse) have a protrusile, sheathed, and forked tongue, and are covered with tubercle-like scales, arranged in rings or circular bands round the body and tail. Their name is derived from the Latin word moneo, to warn, these animals being believed to give warning of the approach of the crocodile. They are found only in the warmer parts of Africa and Asia. Tiiey live near the banks of rivers, and some are aqu
. The animal creation: a popular introduction to zoology. Zoology. :]94 LIZARDS. The Gallywasp of the West Indies {Celestus occiduus) feeds on Fig. 326.—gallywasp. The Monitors {Varanidse) have a protrusile, sheathed, and forked tongue, and are covered with tubercle-like scales, arranged in rings or circular bands round the body and tail. Their name is derived from the Latin word moneo, to warn, these animals being believed to give warning of the approach of the crocodile. They are found only in the warmer parts of Africa and Asia. Tiiey live near the banks of rivers, and some are aquatic in their habits. They often devour the eggs of crocodiles and aquatic birds, even small fishes, lizards, and tortoises fall victims to their voracity. The Guanas {Iguanx) belong to the New World. Their teeth are of remarkable structure, and crenated round the edge. Most of them live on trees, which they climb by means of their long hooked claws, in search of fruits and leaves, that form their prin- cipal sustenance. The flesh of the common Guana is in good esti- mation as an article of food. The Geckos {Gecko). All the preceding families are active by day, but the Geckos are nocturnal in their habits. Tliey are rather clum»y and stoutly built, of dull lurid colours, with great eyes, tlie pupils of which contract to a line, like these of the cat. The structure of their toes is very remarkable; their under-sur- face is expanded into broad flaps, furnished with parallel plates that overlap each other (Fig. 327); by means of these they are enabled to cling to perpendicular surfaces, or even to walk sus- ]jended from the ceiling like the house-fly. They utter unmusical cries by night, which have been thought to resemble the word geeko, whence their Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original Jo
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Keywords: ., bookauthorjo, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1860, booksubjectzoology
