QUEENSLAND AND FAPVAN liEPTILES.— LONGMAN. 39 



two anterior temporals; six upper labials, the fourth being below the centre 

 of the eye; ear-opening subcircular, a little smaller than the eye-opening; no 

 lobnles. Forty smooth scales around middle of body, laterals smallest; preanal 

 scales enlarged. The toes of tlu^ adpressed limbs overlap ; digits laterally 

 compressed ; 16-19 smooth, undivided lauiellffi under the fourth toe. Tail 

 longer than head and body. 



In colouration this skink somewhat resembles L. tenuc, being brownish 

 above, mottled with black; along the sides the dark markings are almost con- 

 tinuous, but do not form a regular band; the sides of both head and body are 

 marked with light spots; throat marbled with black, otherwise the ventral 

 surface is whitish. 



Total length 223 millim. ; tail 122; fore limb 25; hind limb 35; head 22, 

 width of head 14. 



Described from two specimens collected by Mr. Henry Tryon in the 

 Macpherson Ranges, 3,000 ft., South Queensland. Reg. Nos. J. 17/3023 (type), 

 3024 (co-type). 



Lygosoma trijuiii resembles L. qiioiji in the number of its body scales, but 

 is readily distinguished by its more obtuse snout, shorter tail, lesser number of 

 lamellfe under the fourth toe (which are undivided), the absence of a prefrontal 

 suture, and the disposition of the upper labials in relation to the eye. 



OPHIDIA. 

 DIPSADOMORPHUS IRREGULARIS (Men). 



Through the courtesy of Mr. D. Le Souef, Director of the Zoological 

 Gardens, Melbourne, we recently received a snake captured at Dunk Island, 

 which he noticed was cpiite distinct from the common Brown Tree Snake. This 

 specimen is olive brown above, being darker in the vertebral region and lighter 

 on the sides. There are no transverse markings. The ventrals are yellowish and 

 more or less clouded with darker markings which are still more pronounced on 

 the subcaudals. The anterior palatine and mandibular teeth are enlarged. Scales 

 in 21 rows, 15 near the anus; ventrals 261; anal entire; subcaudals 87 (incom- 

 plete). This is the first record of the widely spread and variable D. irregularis 

 so far south, though it has been noted from Torres Strait Islands. Possibly 

 Macleay's D. boijdii. from Ingham, North Queensland, should be more correctly 

 placed in its synonymy than with D. fuscus. Mr. E. J. Banfield, Dunk Island, 

 has since forwarded a second specimen. He records " Wat-tam" as the aboriginal 

 name, and gives an interesting account of its habits in "Tropic Days'' (Fisher 

 Unwin, 1918), p. 240. Like its congener, D. fuscns, it feeds on birds, and Mr. 

 Banfield states that the blacks regard its bite as fatal. Although its fangs are 

 situated at the back of the mouth, there ma,y be some basis for this view. The 

 Boomslangs of South Africa were once regarded as harmless, but F. W. Fitzsimons 

 has shown that the bite is occasionally attended with fatal results to man. It is 

 obvious that certain species of Opisthoglypha need to be handled with caution. 



