838 JOVRNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXIV. 



the author was watching the lizards from a distance of about a foot, but 

 the animals were too busily engaged to take any notice of him. 



Botli the male and female specimens were caught by means of a butterfly 

 net. The two were kept together in a jar, but it was seen that the female 

 at once began to bite the male, and would not allow it to stand near, so 

 the two were kept in separate jars. 



The pairing season, it appears, is the beginning of the hot weather, just 

 after the long hibernation period, 



8, Eggs and the Hatching of Eggs. 



The female lizard was kept in a glass jar, the bottom of which was filled 

 with powdered clay, and over which mosquito gauze netting was tied up, so 

 as to allovv free air in large quantity. The lizard laid two oval eggs on the 

 8th of March just about two months after copulation. Perhaps the delay in 

 the laying of eggs, in this particular case, was due to want of nourishment, 

 as the animal did not take any food whatsoerer all the time. The eggs 

 after being laid were covered by the mother with clay so as to be hidden 

 from view. 



The eggs are oval in shape, of a white colour, with a fairly hard shell. 

 The size of an egg was 13'lmm x ll'2mm. {Fie/. 3.) 



Out of these eggs the young hatched out on the 13th of June, about 37 

 days after the eggs had been laid, by a piece of the shell breaking off from 

 one side. No egg-tooth was to be seen on the head of the young ones. 



9. The Young Lizard. 



The young ones on hatching were very active, and were 58 mm. in length; 

 the tail being 28 mm. The skin on the belly ventrally is very thin, and 

 many of the organs can be seen through it. 



About the end of May and after that one commonly sees the dark- 

 coloured young lizards moving very actively on the walls of the houses. 

 The breeding season of the lizard then would be from the beginning of 

 March to the end of May. 



BAINI PARSHAD, M.Sc, 



. Alfred, Patiala, Research Student of the Punjab University, 



Zoological Laboratory, Government College. 

 Lahore, August 1916. 



No. XVIII.— THE BREEDING HABITS OF THE MAHSEER 

 {BARB US TOR). 



It would be most interesting to know if any members of the Society can 

 give me any information regarding the breeding habits of the Mahseer 

 {Barbus tor). The question is a very interesting one, as apparently very 

 little is definitely known on this subject. 



, Thomas in the Rod in India is of opinion that the Mahseer does not 

 spawn all at one time, but lays a batch of eggs at one time and repeats the 

 process several times in a season. 



