MABOUIA CHINENSIS. 83 



developed : the fore legs extend to the snout, the hind legs two-thirds up the sides towards 

 the axil. 



Upper parts black, with a pair of whitish lines along the back, the lines beginning from 

 the nose and the superciliaries ; no median white line ; another line commences at the 

 tympanum and runs along the middle of the side. Lower parts whitish. 



Honglcong. Length 6 inches, head and trunk measuring 2i. 



Mabouia CHINENSIS. The Chinese Skink. (Plate X. fig. F.) 



Tiliqua chinensis, Gray, Ann. Nat. Hist. i. p. 289. 



Plestiodon sinense, Dmn. &; Bihr. Erpet. gen. v. p. 704. 



Tiliqua rufo-guttata. Cantor, Ami. &; Mag. Nat. Hist. 184.2, ix. p. 482. 



Plestiodon chinensis. Gray, Lizards, p. 92. 



Supranasal shields forming a suture together before the praefrontal ; eyelid scaly ; hind 

 toes very unequal in length, the third being one-fourth or one-fifth shorter than the fourth. 



Praefrontal small, not, or but slightly, in contact with the vertical, the postfrontals gene- 

 rally forming a suture together. Four superciliary shields ; a pair of anterior occipitals. JS'o 

 small shield hetiveen the nasal andjirst loreal; two loreals. Front margin of the opening of 

 the car witli a few tubercles, but without prominent denticulations. Twenty-four or twenty- 

 six longitudinal series of scales round the trunk ; from thii'ty-four to thirty-six transverse series 

 between the axils of the fore and hind legs. A pair of large anal shields ; subcaudals broad. 



Limbs well developed : the fore legs extend to the snout, the hind legs halfway or more 

 than halfway up towards the axil. 



The coloration changes with age : — 



ioung specimens have the same coloration as Plestiodon quinquelineatus from North 

 America and Japan : the upper parts are black or blackish brown, with five longitudinal 

 Hues : one along the vertebral line, terminating in a fork on the crown of the head ; one 

 along each superciliary margin and along the side of back and tail, and one througli each 

 tympanum along the middle of the side. 



The young specimens of a variety are browner on the back, and the outer white band 

 is absent ; this is Plestiodon pulcher. Gray, Lizards, p. 92. 



In another yownrj specimen the outer white band is replaced by a series of rose-coloured spots. 



With advancing age the ground-colour of the upper parts changes from black to brown or 

 brownish olive, and the longitudinal bands become rather broader and dirty white, but always 

 remain visible, especially that along the vertebral line. They were edged with black, and 

 the black edges, instead of being continuous, are now changed into series of black dots. 

 Old specimens have some irregular black spots along the sides, which are intermixed with 

 red ones during life. 



M 2 



