BY DENE B. FRY. 83 



Mr. Fletcher's Tasmanian and Victorian specimens of 

 V. calliscelis I have placed in his v. orientalis, which he had 

 considered as confined to eastern New South Wales. 

 Whether this latter course is correct or not I cannot be 

 quite certain, for v. orientalis has not been definitely 

 characterised by its author. At the same time 1 am 

 unable to find sufficient differences between these 

 Tasmanian and Victorian and the New South Wales 

 examples with spotted groins, to warrant their being 

 regarded as a distinct variety, with a new name. As the 

 inguinal marks in Eastern specimens, unlike the South 

 and West AustraUan examples, are not associated with 

 an}^ structural characteristics, this seems the most 

 advisable course. 



H. ewingii v. calliscelis may be distinguished from all 

 other varieties, save v. krefftii, by the large finger discs, 

 which are as large as or larger than the tympanum, by the 

 more extensive webbing of fingers and toes, and by the 

 large very accentuated purple blotches always present 

 on the groin and hinder side of the thighs. From v. krefftii 

 it is at once distinguished by the latter character alone. 

 It reaches a larger size than all but v. aljnna, and is slender 

 in habit like v. krefftii. The inguinal and thigh marks of 

 V. calliscelis are very different in nature to those which 

 occur in occasional instances in Eastern AustraUan 

 specimens of v. orientalis, and do not vary among themselves 

 to such an extent. They stand out in bold relief on a pale 

 ground and resemble deep, even-edged, purple ink-blotches. 

 It is a most natural thing that, following Dr. Boulenger's 

 meagre description of v. calliscelis, the Eastern Australian 

 specimens with spotted groins should have been referred 

 to that variety, but with two well-preserved specimens 

 from Peters' type locaUty, Adelaide, I do not hesitate 

 to put forward the correction as set out above. 



No key to the varieties of H. ewingii could be quite 

 satisfactory, for the various forms, though their extremes 

 are very different, nevertheless overlap to a certain extent. 

 The following will serve in the majority of cases : — 



Key to varieties of Hyla ewingii, D. and B. 

 A. Discs of fingers as large as, or a little larger than, the tympanum. 

 . Fingers not merely fringed at the base but distinctly webbed. 



