420 ON A NEW VARIETY OF LACERTA VIRIDIS. [June 17, 



The coloration is quite peculiar, and suffices to distinguish this 

 Lizard from any of its allies. 



The young is above brownish-olive, the sides ornate with ocelli 

 witb large bluish-white centre and narrow black margin ; there is an 

 upper series of eleven ocelli, from the outer posterior corner of the 

 parietal to above the hind limb ; between this and the light under 

 surfaces there is another series of ocelli, which, less regular and 

 formed of the fusion of two ocelli, form short vertical bars. The 

 upper lip is alternately barred black and white. The lower surfaces 

 are of a pale greenish-white, without any of the spots which are so 

 characteristic of the adult; but it must be borne in mind that in 

 the young of L- ayilis the spots are likewise absent or only very 

 slightly indicated. 



Now, if we compare this coloration with that of the young of the 

 other species, we see at once that it differs most from L. viridis, the 

 young of which has constantly light longitudinal lines on the body, 

 which frequently persist in the adult female ; the difference from the 

 young of L. pater and L. oceJlata is less, but still great, for in 

 those forms the ocelli are much larger and scattered over the whole 

 of the body ; nearest we find L. schreiberi, which has a very similar 

 arrangement of yellow spots along the sides of the body. 



In the adult, the upper surface of the body and limbs is bright 

 grass-green, sometimes fading to brown on the hind part of the body, 

 with deep black spots, which may be larger and roundish, or smaller, 

 closer, or with lighter centre resembling the markings of a Leopard ; 

 sometimes an unspotted zone along each side of the back ; in the 

 smaller male specimen, there is besides a series of small ocelli with 

 pure white centres along each side of the back, the remains of the 

 upper series of ocelli of the young. The upper surface of the head 

 is olive, black-spotted, passing to blue on the sides, which latter 

 colour covers the throat in the female as well as in the male. The 

 belly is yellow, more or less greenish, with roundish black spots, 

 more profusely scattered in the male than in the female. The tail 

 is olive, darker above, with a median series of black spots, which are 

 more or less confluent into a longitudinal band. 



Four specimens were submitted to me by Dr. Gadow, who 

 obtained them in the Serra de Monchique, Algarve, about 2000 feet 

 above the sea, in sunny dense shrubs, amongst brambles near a little 

 stream. The largest, a female, measures 278 millim., in which the 

 tail enters for 192. 



The only certain reference to this form I can find in the works of 

 previous writers, is in O. Boettger's list of Reptiles collected by 

 v. Maltzan in South Portugal *, where a short description is given 

 from specimens likewise obtained in Monchique. Boettger gives it 

 simply as L. viridis, remarking that it approaches nearest var. punc- 

 tata of Duges (this is evidently meant for var. b. of that author), 

 which is, however, a totally different thing. But I should not be 

 astonished that this new form remains concealed under the references 

 of several authors to L. viridis and L. agilis in the south of the Pyre- 



1 Zeitsclir. f. Ges. Naturw. lii. 1879. p. 505. 



