78 ARTHUR DENDY. 



white Oil a grey ground ; and (2) a series of less well-defined, 

 much broader transverse bands of white (figs. 104, 105). At 

 Stage S, shortly before hatching, the longitudinal striping has 

 disappeared except under the throat and chin, but the trans- 

 verse banding is still clearly recognisable on the back and tail. 

 The small whitish or yellowish spots, so characteristic of some 

 adults, have not yet appeared, but the whole body is dirty 

 white, irregularly mottled, and banded with grey. Thus the 

 order in which the markings appear seems to be (1) longitudinal 

 stripes, (2) transverse bands, and (8) spots. The stage at 

 which longitudinal stripes are present without the transverse 

 bands was not actually observed, but as most of the longitudinal 

 stripes disappear before the transverse ones, and are much 

 better defined than the latter at Stage R, we may assume that 

 they also appear before them. These observations are to a 

 large extent in agreement with the conclusions of Eimer (19) 

 and others as to the colour-markings of animals in general, 

 and especially of mammals ; but in the latter group, according 

 to Eimer, the spots arise before the cross-stripes. Eimer also 

 observes that the old features linger longest on the fore-parts, 

 as is also the case with the longitudinal striping of the Tuatara, 

 indications of which remain visible on the under surface of the 

 head even in the adult animal sometimes, if not always. 



Addendum. 

 Since this manuscript Avas forwarded to England I have 

 found that a precisely similar plugging-up of the nostrils has 

 been described by Parker (20, pp. 61, 64, 65, and 111) in 

 the embryo of Apteryx. This fact seems to show that the 

 plugging has no connection with the hibernation of the embryo. 

 It is a most singular coincidence that this strange condition 

 should have been observed in two animals so widely separated 

 zoologically, and yet both occurring in New Zealand. 



