THE NATURALIST IN AUSTRALIA. 



illustration and record of the life aspects and habits of a few of the more prominent 

 of these lizards with which, through the possession of living specimens, the author 

 has enjoyed special opportunities of making himself familiar. 



The place of honour among this selected series of noteworthy Australian 

 Lacertilia must unquestionably be awarded to the so-called Frilled Lizard, Chlamy- 

 dosaiirm Kingi, which is restricted in its distribution to the northern or tropical 

 districts of Australia and is, within these limits, indigenous to the Colonies of 

 Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory of South Australia. 

 The earliest record of this singular species is contained in Captain Phillip P. 

 King's "Narrative of a Survey of the Intertropical Coasts of Australia" (1826), 

 wherein it is named, figured and described in a Natural History Appendix edited 

 by the late Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S. This original type specimen was obtained by 

 Mr. Allan Cunningham, the botanist to Captain King's ship, the " Mermaid," at 

 Careening Bay, on the north-west coast of Western Australia. Living examples 

 of this very remarkable Lizard were secured by the author in both North Queens- 

 land and Western Australia. He was fortunate, moreover, in bringing a specimen, 

 the first of its kind imported to Europe, safely to England, and in chronicling 

 the greater portion of the data here recorded concerning its very singular aspect 

 and habits. 



The natural habitat of the Frilled Lizard is essentially sylvan. It affects the 

 more or less thickly-wooded scrub-lands, and passes the greater portion of its 

 existence on the trunks and lower branches of the trees. At first sight, when seen 

 in repose, as shewn in the photographic illustration which flanks this Chapter 

 heading, there is but little to distinguish this lizard from the ordinary lacertilian 

 type. The hind limbs are relatively long and the front ones short, as obtains, 

 though in a less degree, in many species of Grammatophora (Amphibolurus). The 

 head is somewhat abruptly truncate, the tail long, rough and attenuate, and there 

 are no abnormal spines or protuberances such as occur in Moloch horridus and other 

 structurally conspicuous species. On a nearer examination, however, it will be 

 observed that a neatly folded plicated membrane with denticulated edges envelopes, 

 sheath-like, the hinder region of the head and neck and extends backwards to the 

 reflexed angle of the fore-limb. In order to appreciate the remarkable form and 

 development of this membranous structure in the Frilled Lizard it is necessary to come 

 upon the animal unawares or to otherwise submit it to exciting influences. Under 

 such conditions it is suddenly transformed from the most placid-looking of reptilian 



