22 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. vol. 54. 



When caught the gecko sometimes utters a faint squeak, and in 

 running about at night it occasionally makes a shrill, cricket-like 

 sound, not audible to all ears. Two individuals at times approach 

 one another and touch noses with a sharp chirp. This may be 

 observed in the house after lamplight, when the geckos scamper 

 about- over the walls and curtains. 



The eggs of L. lugubris are pyriform in shape. The shells are 

 white, hard, and thick, and so firm that they may be dropped from 

 the hand to the ground without always breaking. They measure 

 from 6.2 to 6.8 by 8.8 to 9.2 millimeters. When laid the shell is soft 

 and viscid, but it soon hardens and adheres to whatever it touches. 

 The shells while soft usually become indented and variously modified 

 in form by objects with which they come in close contact. They are 

 found sticking against vertical surfaces or cemented together in clus- 

 ters, often tightly wedged in narrow cracks. They may be seen in 

 cracks of trees, boards, and posts, under loose bark, in clumps of 

 leaves, under rocks, behmd picture frames and books, or in any place 

 that offers partial or entire concealment. Usually two to eight eggs 

 are in a crevice, although one cavity was seen which contamed 22 

 eggs of L. lugubris, together with several of H. garnotii, all with 

 embryos in various stages of development. 



In about two hours after hatching the young shed a thin, papery 

 epidermis, which peels off in scraps, leaving the fresh skin bright and 

 delicately marked with the grays, browns, and yellows of the adults. 

 The young are very active, and when scarcely a day old pursue flies 

 and mosquitoes with avidity. If touched with a bristle or straw 

 they suddenly jmnp, then run a short distance, wriggUng their tails 

 violently, or quickly escape and conceal themselves. They are less 

 nocturnal than the adults and may often be seen runnuig about when 

 the latter are hidden away. Wlien 10 hours' old they measure 31 to 

 38 millimeters in length. 



In life the color varies considerably in shade, and it appears that 

 the lighter and darker ones possess a color in keeping with their 

 surroundmgs. Geckos found among the dead leaves of the banana 

 plant were very light, with a dehcate brownish, yellowish, or pink 

 tint, unlike those of the fences or tree trunks which were dark, in 

 some cases quite dusky. It was seen with surprise, however, that 

 the young on emerging from eggs which had been kept for a time on 

 white cotton exhibited about the same degree of color variation as 

 that of the adults. Opportunity to complete a few simple experi- 

 ments suggested by the above did not occur. 



No differences were observed on comparing specimens from Hawaii 

 with numerous examples from Samoa. 



Collected at Honolulu; Aiea, Oahu; Waimea, Kauai. 



