1 82 The Field Nattiralist's Quarterly Aug. 



The colour at birth is a beautiful silvery white with three 

 fine lines of black, one median and one on each side of the 

 body, the ventral surface being black. I have never ob- 

 served any indication of the existence of parental relation- 

 ship between mother and offspring. 



Lacerta vivipara, the common lizard, like the slow-worm, 

 brings forth from six to twelve young, and likewise leaves 

 her offspring to their own devices from the moment of birth. 

 The young are less than one inch in length at birth, and do 

 not feed for some days. They then devour small insects. 

 The colour of the young is at first almost black. 



Coronella austriaca, the rare smooth snake, brings forth 

 usually not more than six young at a birth, though some- 

 times as many as twelve are born, the time of birth being 

 at the end of August. I have never had the opportunity of 

 observing the young of this species in a state of nature. 



A good deal remains to be done before we know all about 

 the early life of our indigenous reptiles, and I commend the 

 subject to the attention of field naturalists during this breed- 

 ing season, and shall be glad to hear the results of their 

 observations. 



Some Signs of Age and Sex in Fishes. 



By F. G. Aflalo, F.Z.S., F.R.G.S. 



When, early in the present year, Mr J. Stuart Thomson 

 published in the Journal of the Marine Biological Associa- 

 tion a very interesting and suggestive article on " The 

 Periodic Growth of Scales in Gadidge and Pleuronectidse 

 as an Index of Age," students awoke to the realisation 

 that the outward indications of age in the class Pisces 

 were somewhat vaguely demarcated. There can be little 

 doubt that if Mr Thomson's theory proves to have any 

 value — and there is at present no legitimate reason for 

 doubting its soundness, though he has yet to pursue 

 further researches— the growth of scales will form a re- 

 liable clue to the age of a fish belonging to groups other 



