MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. 837 



then some others appeared in transverse planes separating the skin on the 

 head, limbs and tail from that of the rest of the body. The skin on the 

 head burst in the mid-dorsal line, and came off as one piece from the upper 

 surface of the head, and from the large scales of the upper and lower jaws, 

 as also from the floor of the mouth ; with this piece also comes off a shining, 

 transparent covering from over the eyes. Just before the membrane 

 covering of the eyes is shed, the animal becomes very restless and is very 

 nearly blind. Here a remark might also be made on the peculiar shape of 

 the pupil, which is vertical, and is not a single slit, but three diamond shaped 

 openings connected with one another (Fig. 4). The skin of the head 

 had come off on the second day. The skin over the belly and back was 

 shed in flakes, while that of the tail came oft' as a single piece through a 

 rent along the mid-dorsal line ; the skin over the limbs was coming off' in 

 flakes, and the process of the moulting of skin was completed on the 

 morning of the third day by the lizard rubbing oft' the old skin over the 

 lamellae on the under surface of the hands and feet. The animal looked 

 much darker in colour after moulting, and was very active. 



There were a large number of ticks of a reddish colour attached to various 

 parts of the body of the lizard, these did not come oft' with the cast, but 

 bored through it, and remained attached to the animal. 



7. Courtship and Paibing. 

 The author had many times seen these lizards fighting very furiously 

 amongst themselves, but could not understand the reason ; it was only when 

 two of these were caught one day, that the mystery was cleared up. Both 

 the lizards were biting each other, and holding very tightly in their 

 clutches, and while fighting thus had fallen to the ground, where also the 

 fight was continued. These on being sexed were both found to be males. 

 Since then the author has many a times seen a single female being chased 

 by three or even four males, and later found the males fighting amongst 

 themselves for the possession of the female. It may be noted that these 

 lizards are polygamous, and from this it appears, that as these fights are for 

 the possession of the female, these will have to be referred to the heading 

 of Danoins Sexual Selection. The successful male after this begins what 

 may be termed Cow^s/iz^j. This was observed at Panipat in the case of a 

 male and the female already referred to, and it was this female which later 

 on laid eggs, out of which the young ones hatched out. This pair of 

 lizards was seen on the wall of a bathroom. The female was sitting quietly 

 on the wall, while the male was moving round the female in circles at 

 a fairly rapid pace, and looked greatly excited. It would sometimes 

 stop, come near the female, nod its head, touch the female, and then 

 again resume going round the female ; it went on like thus for about ten 

 minutes, when the male finally stopped by the side of the female, and lay 

 parallel to it. The male now began to nod and touch the head and body 

 of the female oftener, even so much as lightly stroking it ; it would some- 

 times put out its tongue and just lick the female. The female also now 

 became responsive and turned its head towards the male, thus the initial 

 stages of courtship were completed. The male next gently climbed over 

 the side to the back of the female, and began to stroke its head. The 

 male was now clasping the female firmly and was wagging its tail. The 

 female now raised her tail in a way to form an arch, the tip of it touching 

 the ground. The male now began to slide a little to the right side, and 

 brought his tail under that of the female till the cloacal apertures of the 

 male and female came to lie opposite each other, and copulation took place. 

 The animals remained in this condition for four (4) minutes, when the 

 female became restless and began to slide from underneath. All this time 



