& 16.4 & 15.1 & 0.35 & -24.7 & -25.9 & R\
PKS 2155–305 & 0.116 & 1.75/5.0 & 11.0 & 12.4 & 4.00 & -28.5 & -26.9 & R\
PKS 2254$+$074 & 0.190 & 7.60:/32.5: & 14.0: & 14.9: & 2.27: & -26.5: & -25.6: & R\
\
\

\

The near–infrared properties of the host galaxies
-------------------------------------------------

The host galaxies of all the low redshift resolved BL Lacs in this sample have previously been studied by us in the optical (Falomo 1996; Falomo & Kotilainen, in preparation). The observations presented here are, however, the first study of them in the NIR, and allow us to address for the first time the issue of the optical–NIR colour of the BL Lac host galaxies. The integrated colours of the host galaxies are given in Table 3, where column (1) gives the name of the BL Lac; (2) and (3) the absolute magnitude of the host galaxy in the H band (this work) and R band (literature value), respectively; (4) the reference for column (3); (5) the R–H colour of the host galaxy computed from columns (2) and (3); (6) the same as column (5), but computed from our colour profiles 