SNAKES AND LIZARDS FEOM QUEENSLAND AND N. T.— LONGMAN. 51 



Oarman's D. reticulata,-^ with dark-edged scales as in pleheia, was secured in 

 the Cooktown district. His counting of fourteen scales evidently includes the 

 ventral series, whicli brings it into line with De Vis ' species. The type of tincta 

 has the third supralabial elongated and below the eye, as in reticulata. When 

 a large series is examined (the Museum has over twenty), it will be seen that 

 little value can be placed on this and certain other characters. The second 

 supralabial has a tendency to divide, and we have two specimens with three 

 labials in front of the subocular on the one side and but two on the other. The 

 longitudinal rows of body-scales (including ventrals) vary from 14 to 16, and 

 McCoy records 18. The nasal shields also exhibit variation. Giinther has stated^^ 

 that " continence of two shields into one is by no means of uncommon occurrence in 

 this lizard " (Z>. fraseri). The type of Rosenburg's D. lincata,-'' a close ally, 

 had the anterior part of the nasal fused with the first supralabial. Garman 

 seems not to have been aware of De Vis' species when he described D. reticulata, 

 which is certainly not distinct. D. reticulata, tincta, and pleheia have much the 

 same colour markings on the head, the bars of which are very distinct in young 

 specimens. D. pleheia has no median preanal scale, but it would be unwise to 

 lay much stress on that character. In the opinion of the writer, the only satisfac- 

 tory way to deal with a large series of these lizards is to regard reticulata as a 

 synonym and tincta and pleheia as but variations of D. fraseri. 



It is interesting to note that at least one of the earlier Australian herpeto- 

 logists has mistaken the fore part of a Delma, fraseri for a young brown snake, 

 and T. S. Hall has drawn attention to the resemblance of the barred head of 

 these lizards to the juveniles of Diemenia textilis as a possible case of advantage- 

 ous mimicry.-' 



It may be added that Giinther, when describing D. haileyi,-^ did not 

 endorse the separation of Cryptej delma as a distinct genus by Fischer on account 

 of the presence of preanal pores, stating that " a comparison of the allied 

 species will show that this technical character leads to a rather unnatural 

 subdivision of the genus." 



DIPOROPHORA BILINEATA, Gray. 



A large series of this common lizard has been sent from Port Darwin by 

 ]Mr. G. F. Hill. The remarkable variation in colour and lepidosis of this and 

 the allied species. D. australis, Steind., has been pointed out by Boulenger 

 (B.^M.C, i, p. 894) and by R. Broom.-'* The head of D. hilineata is figured by 

 N. de Rooij in her useful work, " The Reptiles of the Indo-Australian Archi- 

 pelago" (Leiden, 1915, i, p. 13-4). Physignatlius nigricollis, Lonnberg and 

 Andersson,^" has a most suspicious resemblance to forms of D. australis and is 

 either a synonym or a curious case of convergence. 



2* Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., Harv., xxxix, p. 5, 1901. 



25 Ann. Mag. Nat. His., xii, p. 145, 1873. 



26 Ann. Mag. Nat. His., xvi, p. 131, 1905. 

 "" Victorian Naturalist, xxii, p. 74, 1905. 

 "» Ann. Mag. Nat. His., xix, p. 170, 1897. 



-^ Proc. Lin. Soc. N.S.W., xxii, 1897, p 641. 



30 Vet.-Ak. Handl., Stockholm, Bd. 52, No. 7, p. 4, 1915. 



