MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. 781 



As each Doab of the Punjab rivers is taken up for irrigation and comes 

 under cultivation, this lizard is found to disappear, and the following notes 

 of personal enquiry and observation may be of interest to those who are 

 familiar with this Agamoid. 



The Punjab species (?7rowi«s^«.r Aarc?w-'tc7cez, called in Punjabi " Sanah, " 

 Hindi " Sanda ") is found in the dry and rainless tracts of Baluchistan and 

 Upper India. The rings of the spiny scales on the upper surface of the tail 

 are separated from one another by rows of smaller smooth scales and are not 

 in juxtaposition as found on the tail of the Arabian species. The lateral 

 spines are largest, while those on the upper surface are small. This, as 

 will be seen, is necessary in order that it may defend itself from 

 the attacks of snakes. The small scales on tha body are uniform and 

 smooth. The colour appears to conform to the locality in which it is found ; 

 in many specimens examined on the Lower Bari Doab Canal, Montgomery 

 District, Punjab, the back was generally covered with a network of black 

 marks on a ground of yellowish coloured skin. Some were light and sandy 

 in colour, others darker and slightly green. But all were marked with a 

 typical spot on the front surface of the thigh. They are generally slow 

 in their movements, but when frightened and making for their holes can 

 get along fairly fast. In size, out of 21 specimens caught within one hour, 

 none were over 15 inches, while the Arabian species grows to 18 inches 

 and over. In the plains of the Punjab these lizards are generally found 

 in slightly elevated spots where they would not be liable to be inundated 

 by rainfall, and large numbers are to be found in certain localities that are 

 suitable to them for food. There are a certain class of low class Indians 

 who eat this lizard and hunt it systematically. These people can distin- 

 guish between the male and female by the length, shape and size of the 

 tail, and in no case were they found to err. One specimen said to be a 

 female being opened oat was found to contain 15 eggs in it. They appear 



