676 MR. W. T. BLANFORD ON PERSIAN REPTILES. [June 7, 



darker cross bands on the trunk and limbs, often interrupted on the 

 former. Tail with numerous imperfect dark rings. In some speci- 

 mens the enlarged scales of the back and sides are whitish, producing 

 a speckled appearance. The chin and throat in males and the 

 gular sac speckled with dusky or blue, or altogether dark indigo ; 

 rest of lower parts white. 



Length of an adult male 8 inches, of which the tail is 5 ; of a 

 female 7'8, of which the tail is 4-4. 



This species is intermediate between typical Agama and the 

 Asiatic forms of Trapelus : it has the general form of the first- 

 named, and the irregularity in the dorsal scales characteristic of the 

 latter. It is easily distinguished from Agama agiUs and A. sinaita 

 by the inequality of the dorsal scales, and from Trapelus ruderatus, 

 T. megalonyx ^ and T. rubrigularis ^ by its less depressed form, 

 longer limbs, higher head, and more prominent canthus rostralis, by 

 the strong and persistent keelson the dorsal scales, and by the much 

 smaller difference between the enlarged scales of the back and the 

 ordinary dorsal scales. 



The nearest ally I have seen is a species represented by two 

 specimens in the British Museum. These specimens are said to be 

 from Egypt, and to have been presented by Mr. Burton. They 

 were the two examples referred by Dr. Gray in his ' Catalogue 

 of Lizards,' p. 258, to Trapelus savignii. As, however, T. savignii 

 is said, in Dr. Gray's own description of the species, to have "nape 

 and back with a crest, scales of the back rather large, equal," and 

 was originally described by Dumeril and Bibron ^ (from a figure 

 apparently) as having a crest extending from the occiput to the 

 tail, and the scales of the upper part of the body equal to each 

 other, it is difficult to understand how these specimens, which are 

 crestless and have unequal dorsal scales, can be referred to the 

 species. The Lizard in question is only distinguished from A.persica 

 by the dorsal scales being more irregular and less strongly keeled, 

 the head less raised, the canthus less prominent, and by the scales 

 above the supraorbital tracts being convex but not keeled. 



Agama persica is represented in the collection by five specimens, 

 four of which are from Dehbid. 



Stellio nuptus. 



Kazrun and Shiraz. 



The two specimens from Shiraz, both males, are black almost 

 throughout. They were taken on the 26th April. I suspect that 

 the black colour is seasonal. These specimens agree with the 

 variety I called fuscus ('Eastern Persia,' ii. p. 319) in colour and 

 in the obliteration of the nuchal fold. 



A female from Kazrun, captured April 16th, contains large 

 eggs. 



^ Giinther, Eept. Brit. Ind. p. 159, pi. xiv. fig. C. 



2 W. T. Blanford, J. A. S. B. 1876, xlv. p. 23, pi. i. fig. 1. 



3 Erp. Gen. iv. p. 508. 



