656 MR. W. T. BLANFORD ON TWO NEW LIZARDS. [Nov. 17, 



now enabled by the kindness of Mr. Blanford to exhibit, have in ge- 

 neral characters a slight tendency towards those of Acrocephalus pa- 

 lustris, and are thus tbe more interesting as demonstrating a gradation 

 from Hypolais to Acrocephalus. They are also interesting because, Hy- 

 pulais rama being so very closely allied to the rare Hypolais caligata of 

 eastern Europe, differing merely in the size of the bill, it may be in- 

 ferred that the eggs of those two species will probably closely resemble 

 each other. 



I have for long tried to obtain authentic eggs of a species which 

 appears to form a connecting link between Acrocephalus and Hypo- 

 la's in structure and habits, but has hitherto been classed with the 

 former, Acrocephalus dumetorum, Blyth {magnirostris, Lilj.) the 

 eggs of which I believe will be found to resemble either those of A- 

 crocephalus palustris or to approach nearer to those of some of the 

 Hypolais group. Dr. Jerdon (B. of India, ii. p. 156) describes them 

 as " pearl-white, with minute scattered specks of rufous, chiefly at the 

 large end ;" but as he himself never obtained the nest, there is some 

 doubt as to whether these really were the eggs of this species, especially 

 as he describes the eggs of Hypolais rama as being pure white. 



There can be no doubt about the authenticity of the eggs of this 

 last species obtained by Mr. Blanford, as he shot the female as she 

 left her nest. 



I am enabled to exhibit from my own collection eggs of all the 

 European species of Hypolais except H. caligata, viz. those of H. 

 icterina, H.polyglotta, H. olivelorum, H. pallida, H. languida, and 

 H. opaca, from which it will be seen that there is a distinct gradation 

 in the eggs as in the birds themselves towards Acrocei)halus, the 

 two nearest in each group being Hypolais rama and Acrocephalus 

 palustris. 



Unfortunately, the nest of eggs of H. rama which I now exhibit 

 will leave this country in a few days ; but I trust that the figure 

 given of them (Plate LXXIX.) will serve to show their peculiar inte- 

 rest as demonstrating the gradation between the two groups. 



8. Description of two Uromasticine Lizards from Meso- 

 potamia and Southern Persia. By W. T. Blanford, 

 F.R.S., F.Z.S. 



[Eeceived November 11, 1874.] 



(Plate LXXX.) 



I am indebted to the kindness of Mr. Sclater for an opportunity 

 of examining the two very interesting Lizards described below. 

 Both are, I think, new to science, although one of them appears to 

 have been noticed as long ago as the latter end of the last century 

 by Olivier, who in 1807 published an account of his travels in 

 several eastern countries, under the title of * Voyage dans l'Empire 

 Othman, l'Egypte et la Perse.' In this work, vol. ii. p. 428, a 



