. Birds of other lands, reptiles, fishes, jointed animals and lower forms;. Zoology; Birds; Reptiles; Fishes. 174 THE LIVING ANIMALS OF THE WORLD. J' b) IV. SavilU-Kinl, A GROUP OF MOUNTAIN-DEVILS OF CENTRAL AUSTRALIA T/ie ^pinfs of theie IrzarJs arc ^o iharp that lht\ icili h'tcrce a tender hand the heloderm is the arid, sandy, and stony region on the western side of the Cordillera mountain- range. It is at the same time said to be rarely seen in those parts except during the rainy season, and also to be for the most part nocturnal in its habits. The family group of the Monitors i
. Birds of other lands, reptiles, fishes, jointed animals and lower forms;. Zoology; Birds; Reptiles; Fishes. 174 THE LIVING ANIMALS OF THE WORLD. J' b) IV. SavilU-Kinl, A GROUP OF MOUNTAIN-DEVILS OF CENTRAL AUSTRALIA T/ie ^pinfs of theie IrzarJs arc ^o iharp that lht\ icili h'tcrce a tender hand the heloderm is the arid, sandy, and stony region on the western side of the Cordillera mountain- range. It is at the same time said to be rarely seen in those parts except during the rainy season, and also to be for the most part nocturnal in its habits. The family group of the Monitors includes the largest of existing lizards, notably the semi-aquatic form common to North Australia and the Malay Peninsula and adjacent islands, â which attains a length of 8 or ID feet, and is not infrequently mistaken, as it rushes, on being disturbed, through the reeds and other rank herbage to the water, for a }'oimg crocodile. An exceedingly fine and well set-up example of these huge water-monitors, shot by Captain Stanley Flower in the neighbourhood of Singapore, is placed in the Reptile Gallery of the Natural History Museum. Another species, indigenous to the Southern Australian States, and having essentially arboreal habits, commonl)' attains to a length of 5 or 6 feet. The skin of one example of this species, obtained for the writer from the eucah'ptus forests in Gippsland, Victoria, measures no less than 7 feet long. With reference to the elegant lace-like pattern of its skin-markings, this species is frequently associated with the suggestive title of the Lace-LIZARD. Among the more illiterate settlers it is generally known as a Gooana, the name being obviousl}^ a corruption of Iguana, and being, as a matter of fact, applied promiscuousl)', and in all cases incorrectl}', to a number of the larger Australian lizards. All the members of the Monitor Tribe are inveterate egg-eaters. An Egyptian species, the Nile Monitor, renders service to humanity through the gratificatio
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecad, booksubjectfishes, booksubjectzoology
