142 REPTILES. 



3. SiLUBOURA. Uropeltis, part, Cuv, Typhlops, part, Cuv. Schn. 



Tail obliquely truncated, upper part of end rather convex, co- 

 vered with 2-keeled scales, the lower edge acute, with a depressed 

 sharp-edged 2-tubercled scale, lower surface with 3 series of broad 

 larger scales. Vent-shields 1 before and 2 marginal. 



The Rough Tail. Siluboura Ceylonicus. U. Ceylonicus, 

 Cuv. B. A. ii. 76. Cocteau, Mag. Zool. 1833, t. 2. 



Brown, minutely and indistinctly yellow-spotted, with a yel- 

 low band in front of the vent, continued in a band on each side 

 of the tail. 



a. In spirits. Madras. Presented by Walter Elliott, Esq. 



Suborder II. Thick-tongued Lizards, (PACHYGLosSiE). 



• Tribe III. Nyctisaura. 



Scales of the belly small, rhombic, imbricated, of the head, 

 back and sides granular. Tongue thick, short, convex, slightly 

 nicked at the end. Eyes nocturnal. Eyelids circular, not conni- 

 vent. Pupil linear, rarely round, erect. Body depressed, some- 

 times fringed on the sides. Feet for walking. Toes subequal, la- 

 mellar beneath, and generally dilated. 



Family XXI. The Geckoes, (Geckotid^). 



The only Family of the Tribe. 



They live on insects and worms, which they swallow whole, 

 the oesophagus being very large. They produce a sound by the 

 movement of their tongue against their palate, which has given 

 rise to their name, similar to the double click often used in riding, 

 which has been attempted to be imitated by the word Gecko, Foc- 

 kaie and Geitge, and also to be called postilions, claqueurs and 

 spitters. Nocturnal, avoiding the heat of the sun, and catch 

 their food in cracks in rocks, houses. Sec. Their movements are 

 veiy brusque, without sound, and exceedingly rapid. They hiber- 

 nate, and are provided with one or two fatty masses in front of the 

 pubis, which are said to be a provision for their nourishment dur- 

 ing that period. The males are smaller, and often have femoral 

 pores which are wanting in the female. The egg is spherical, 

 with a hard calcareous shell. 



