Mr. R. Swinhoe on Formosan Reptiles. 223 



attracted by the singular series of loud notes these creatures 

 utter at all hours of the day and nighty more especially during 

 cloudy and rainy weather. These notes resemble the syllables 

 " chuck-chuck " several times repeated, and, from their more 

 frequent occurrence during July and August, are, I think, the 

 call-notes of the male to the female. During the greater part 

 of the day the little creature lies quiescent in some cranny 

 among the beams of the roof or in the wall of the house, where 

 however it is ever watchful for the incautious fly that approaches 

 its den, upon whom it darts forth with but little notice. But it 

 is by no means confined to the habitations of men. Every old 

 wall, and almost every tree, possesses a tenant or two of this 

 species. It is excessively lively, and even when found quietly 

 ensconced in a hole, generally manages to escape, — its glit- 

 tering little eyes (black, with yellow-ochre iris) appearing to 

 know no sleep ; and an attempt to capture the runaway seldom 

 results in more than the seizure of an animated tail, wrenched 

 off with a jerk by the little fellow as it slips away, without loss 

 of blood. The younger individuals are much darker than the 

 larger and older animals, which are sometimes almost albinos. 

 In ordinary fly-catching habits, as they stick to the sides of a 

 lamp, there is much similarity between this Gecko and the little 

 Papehoo or wail-lizard of China ; but this is decidedly a larger and 

 more active animal, and often engages in a struggle with insects 

 of very large size. I once watched a Gecko seize a Sphinx moth; 

 but the insect, after a serious struggle, succeeded in breaking 

 loose from it, not, however, without having been too seriously 

 injured to live. I was assured by a medical friend at Amoy 

 that he saw in his verandah there a large spider [Mygale species) 

 quietly sucking the body of a Papehoo. I suspect it would take 

 a very large spider to pay the same respects to a Formosan 

 Gecko. 



I have found the eggs of this Gecko in holes in walls 

 or among mortar rubbish. They usually lie several together, 

 are round, and did not seem to me to offer any appearance other 

 than those of ordinary lizards. The young, when first hatched, 

 keep much to themselves under stones in dark cellars, where 

 they live until they attain two-thirds the size of the adults. At 

 this stage they begin to show out in conspicuous places, but 

 always evince alarm at the approach of their older brethren ; for 

 what reason, I could not make out. A little fellow that lived 

 behind some small boxes on my table, and used to sally out to 

 catch the smaller insects attracted by the lamplight, would 

 always scurry away as soon as he spied one of the larger tenants 

 of the roof-top gliding down with hurried strides. It may have 

 been puerile modesty, or perhaps he was aware that his precocity 



