256 JOURNAL, NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY OF SIAM. Vol. T. 
and others on the back, ete.” In the Bangkok specimen, as with an- 
other from Den Chai, the only two which I have seen alive, these white 
cross-bands were, during life, of a bright lemon-yellow colour, whilst 
in the former also, a young specimen, the dark brown was pure black. * 
MALCOLM SMITH, 
October, 1915. 
No. IV.—ON THE BREEDING HABITS AND COLOUR 
CHANGES IN THE LIZARD, CALOTES MYSTACEUS. 
A pair of these lizards, caught at Paknampo in January of last 
year, bred whilst in captivity, and afforded me an opportunity of 
observing their habits during this period. Like other species of the 
genus Calotes in confinement, they were extremely wild and shy, and 
would never allow themselves to be handled. They fed, however, 
freely on insects of al) sorts. For the first six weeks of captivity, 
they were evidently too much disturbed to show any colour changes, 
and remained a mixture of dull greys and browns of varying shades. 
The courtship, which was continued until the eggs were laid, 
was much the same as that described for C. versicolor, ( Robinson, 
P. ZS. p. 858. 1899.) and consisted for the most part in absurd 
bowings and noddings of the head. This was commenced by the 
male, and was usually, after a short time, responded to by the female. 
The pair invariably faced each other on these occasions, arching their 
backs and puffing out their throats to the full extent. The vivid hues 
assumed by the male (and slightly so by the female) during this per- 
formance, transformed him into a truly gorgeous creature. The 
head and fore-part of the body became of a light electric blue 
(sometimes green ) colour, the gular pouch dark purple, whilst the 
pale stripe which borders the upper lip, and passes on to the shoulder, 
turned almost white, and stood out in strong contrast to its sur- 
roundings. 
They were first observed in copula on May 9th, and after. that 
were frequently seen together. On June 21st, I observed the female 
busy with the earth in the flower pot in the cage. She did not like 
being watched, and ceased operations as soon as she saw me, but by 
hiding behind a door I was enabled to observe the rest of the pro- 
ceedings. The eggs had been already laid, and she was then engaged 
in covering them up, raking the earth over them with her fore-paws 
and hammering it down with her nose. The male, perched on a 
branch above, watched the performance with great interest, and 
I was surprised to see him, in the midst of it all, suddenly race down 
to his mate and engage her. She, finally, completed her task, smooth- 
ing the earth completely over at the spot, so that no traces were left to 
show that anything had been done there. J never saw her near the 
spot again, and she appeared to take no further interest in her pro- 
geny. The eggs were placed about 2 inches deep in the earth, and 
had the usual soft, white parchinent-like covering. They were 7 in 
DN — — — ——<———<—=—_— sr 
