EAST AFRICAN LIZARDS.' 



937 



only occasionally met witK, so if my theory is 'correct the young 

 must find thoir way back to the houses. Young specimens ar6 

 comiiionly met with in rubbish heaps or accumulations of 

 vegetable matter in waste land near houses. Examples Caught 

 on bushes are olive-green in colour when found and look very 

 distinct. ' . , , i 



' The chin shields of the present series show considerable 

 variati«n ; normally only the first pair are in contact behind the 

 mental, sometimes the second pair are also, again in one Mombasa 

 specimen the shields forming the second pair are transversely 

 divided. There is little profit in discussing the abnormalities 

 of a species whose wide variation is evidenced by the dozen 

 names under which it has been described from time to time. 



I wonder whether it is generally known that daylight can be 

 seen through a gecko's head if the ear-openings happen to be in 

 line with the light. A gecko used to lie on a certain bar just 

 tit sunset at Kilosa, so I had the opportunity of seeing this 

 "phenomenon many times. 



c A six weeks old gecko measuved 45 mm. over all ; only one of 

 the present series was longer than those recorded from my 

 previous" Collection, and "^the tail was unfortunately reproduced 

 (87-|-60r), so that over all it was not greater. This fine speci-: 

 men came from Bagilo in the Uluguru Mtns. 

 ' A Frere Town spesimen had a bifid tail, the regenerated 

 portion being the longest (52-1-56 & 59). A gecko with only 

 tfiree legs was seen several times at Kilosa. 



■ The followintj note on mating was made at Kilosa 1. vi. 21. :— 

 "Whilst working -by lamplight at 7.10 p.m., 1 heard a. nbise 

 '. tchk, tchk,' and looking up, saw two large geckos on the out- 

 side of the mosquito gauze which enclosed the verandah. One 

 had seized the other by the right side of its neck apparently just 

 at the inonient'my attention was attracted, a second later there 

 was a rapid movement as the posterior portions of their bodies 

 met and pairing took place. Moving the lamp possibly scared 

 them, for they separated a minute afterwards, running away in 

 different directions." , • 



r. It seeriis' probable that eggs are laid at all times of the year, for 

 besides March, July, October, December already recorded, a pair; 

 of eggs were found in a lock at Frere Town on 2.viii. 20, five 

 beneath an earthen pot at Kilosa on 13. v. 22, .twenty beneath a; 

 pile of rotting palmJeaves at Dar^s Salaam on 4. xii. 22, five 

 beneath logs at Mbala on 26.ii. 21 ; also at Dar es Salaam and 

 Frere Town on' v. 23. The Kilosa eggs hatched on 20 and 

 21. V. 22, and nine of the Dar es Salaam eggs within a fortnight: 

 of being collected. 

 : Dietetic records are best described 'from my notes direct:-— ^ ;: 



" Shot a gecko on trunk of palm-tree with a polydesmid in its 

 mouth.'* (Zanzibar, 19, xi. 20.) • 



- " A half-grown gecko captured a tsetse {Glossina morsitans) on; 

 mosquito-gauze of the verandah." (Kilosa, l.xii. 20.) t - : i 



