1868.] MR. GERARD KREFFT ON AUSTRALIAN ZOOLOGY. 3 



It is a true western species ; and the specific name of longieoUis 

 would be much better adapted to it : the Tortoise known so well 

 as C. longieoUis can shelter its head under the shell ; whereas C oh- 

 longa cannot do this, and there is scarcely a margin left to protect 

 the head or neck. 



We are told by the same authority that " the Batrachia of Vic- 

 toria, with the exception of the Common Green Frog {Ranhyla 1, 

 M'^Coy ; Hijla aurea. White), are rarely seen or heard, that the 

 true Hylce inhabit lofty gum-trees, and that the Swamp-Frogs of 

 the genus Limnodynastes burrow into the sand during the day." 



I need only refer to Dr. Giinther's paper on the " Geographical 

 Distribution of the Batrachians," to bear witness to the fact that 

 this country is overrun with frogs, that they produce a deafening 

 noise, which is frequently mistaken by those newly arrived for the 

 song of birds and chirping of insects, and that after dark, when the 

 dew is on the grass or after a shower of rain, the ground (even close 

 to a city) is covered with many species of these animals. Most 

 Hylce retire under the bark of trees during the day, and come forth 

 only after dark, when they make themselves sufficiently heard, and 

 can easily be seen, by the light of a candle, hopping about in all di- 

 rections. Hijla aurea has not the habit of Rami, as is stated by the 

 same authority. No true Rana is found basking in the noonday 

 sun miles away from water ; but I have frequently observed H. aurea 

 in such positions. As to Frogs burrowing into the sand during the 

 day, this is simply against their nature. 



As I am now speaking about reptiles, I wish to put myself right 

 with my friend Dr. Gliuther, who gives the habitat of Pseudechis 

 aiistralis as "North-eastern Austraha." In August 1857 I caught 

 on the Murray a red-hxovin Snake with bright-yellow belly, which had 

 the scales in 17 rows, anal bifid, ventrals 199, subcaudals 34 : — , 

 Six years afterwards I received from Port Deuison a similar speci- 

 men differing only in the subcaudals, which always vary in this 

 genus (being 31 : |^). Another point to be corrected is, that I have 

 referred the common Biemennia met with in the vicinity of Sydney 

 to B. psammophis. I have used this name because it was this southern 

 and western species which Schlegel first described and figured as 

 Elaps psammophis. The head (see Schlegel's Abbildungen, t. 46. 

 f. 14) is decidedly that of the common Biemennia found in New 

 South Wales, the snake to which Dr. Giinther and Dr. Gray apply 

 Schlegel's designation being found in Queensland only. I am quite 

 willing to adopt the name of B. reticulata for the southern species, 

 if it is desirable to do so, though Schlegel's name of B. psammophis 

 was applied first to the reptile which has generally gone under the 

 name of B. reticulata. 



Before concluding, I wish to make a few remarks with regard to 

 the Myrmecobius fasciatus, of which I have twice had an opportu- 

 nity of examining females. This animal is supposed to have as many 

 as eight nipples ; and one observer, and a good one, states that he 

 has actually seen seven young on the nipples. Now in both speci- 



