IV. A NEW GENUS OF LIMBLESS SKINKS 



FROM AN ISLAND IN THE 



CHILK A LAKE. 



By N. Ann.andale, D.Sc. , F. A. S.B., Zoological Survey 



of India. 



The island of Barkuda is situated in the extreme north-eastern 

 corner of the Madras Presidency. It is about three quarters of a 

 mile long by half a mile broad and lies in the Chilka Lake a mile 

 off the mainland. The water ^ round it is always brackish but 

 varies in salinity with the seasons. 



A stony laterite soil and a rainfall probably smaller than 

 that of the neighbouring mainland and certainly never excessive do 

 not encourage either a luxuriant growth of vegetation or the exis- 

 tence of a rich fauna, but the greater part of the island is covered 

 with fairh'- dense jungle in which bushes and even large trees flour- 

 ish in abundance. All these trees and shrubs have tough glossy 

 leaves and a rather sombre foliage. The largest are figs of two 

 species, the Banyan {Ficus hengalensis) and Ficus rumphii; the 

 most alDundant shrub is Glycosmis pentaphila, a common form in 

 waste places in man}^ parts of India. True xerophytic plants also 

 occur, for example Cacti {Cereus and Opunfia), which have probably 

 been introduced accidentally, and an indigenous tree-euphorbia 

 {Euphorbia nivula). One of the few creepers, a vine with a curious 

 segmented stem ( Fiji's quadrangularis), also belongs to this cate- 

 gory. 



There is no cultivation on the island, but paths have been cut, 

 a considerable area cleared for the erection of a bungalow and wells 

 and a small pond dug. The only permanent human inhabitant is 

 the keeper of the bungalow. 



The fauna of the island is even less rich than that of the 

 plains of India generally and many species that are abundant on 

 the adjacent mainland are here very scarce or altogether absent. 

 The only terrestrial mammals are the Chital {Cervus axis), of 

 which a small herd has been introduced by the owner of the island 

 for sporting purposes, a large reddish mongoose (probabl}' Muiigos 

 smithii or a local race thereof) and a form of the common Black 

 Rat {Ratius rattus), which is fairly abundant round the bungalow. 



There are no small Passerine birds in the woods. Most of the 

 larger species that occur are forms of very wide distribution. 

 Among the land-birds perhaps the commonest are the Indian 



i See Annandale and Kemp, Mem. Iiui. Miis., V, p. lo ( 1915'). 



