EAST AFRICAK LIZARDS. 155 



on the ruins of a hut ; they were unusually spotted between the 

 dorsal lines. I marked one down and caught it beneath a beam : 

 to my surprise it had no spots. It was just possible the speci- 

 men I was originally pursuing had got away and I had captured 

 another ; on the other hand, the blotches may be a sign of health 

 and vigour, and disappear when the lizard is frightened. A 

 female was taken at Morogoro with a salmon-coloured throat ; 

 it was also much spotted dorsally. At Nairobi (13. vii. 19), the 

 weather being very cold, two Skinks were seen upon the wall, the 

 one having chased the other up ; both fell off the wall and, being 

 sluggish, were easily captured. One was a male (85'109 mm.) and 

 had the throat mottled brown ; the other, whose sex was not 

 determined, had the throat mottled orange. 



The following notes were made on pregnant females : — 



28. viii. 15, Nairobi. Ovules small. 



26.x. 19. ,, 7 large young, about 2i inches 



in length. 

 24. xii. 14. Delagoa Bay. 4 young, l^ to 1| inches, and 1 



bud egg. 

 16, xii. 16. Morogoro. Ovules small. 



At Morogoro (23. xii. 16) a striped Skink was seen running 

 along with a nauseous gaudy grasshopper in its mouth. Sitting 

 coffer' sunset one day (27.i. 17.) by the river-bank, a Skink came 

 out of a hole just beside me, and snapped the head off a millipede 

 which was also out for an evening stroll. Grasshoppers, a beetle, 

 and a land-snail's shell were found in the stomach of a Nairobi 

 specimen (5, ix. 19). 



On three occasions specimens of this Skink were found in the 

 stomach of hawks at Morogoro : — (i.) Kestrel (Cerchneis tinnun- 

 ctdus), 4. i, 18 ; (ii.) Harrier [Bioter b. rvfiventris), 31. i. 18 ; (iii.) 

 Circus macrurus, 28. ii. 18. 



Some cats are very fond of harassing these Skinks. At Nairobi 

 (5. ix. 19) a cat brought one into the house ; twice she released 

 and recaught it, yet the lizard did not drop its tail. I held the 

 cat up by the tail until she released the Skink, and, though she 

 had chewed it, when dropped, it ran away and escaped into the 

 garden. Somehow she managed to again find it, and brought it 

 into the house in a dying state, its tail still intact. 



Nematode worms {Oochoristica sp.) were found in the stomach 

 of the Dar-es-Salaam specimen in lai'ge numbers. 



Lygosoma sundevallii (Smith). 



Very large numbers of this snake-like Skink were collected. 

 For the present paper fifteen specimens from Nairobi, Ngari 

 Mtoni, Moschi, and Morogoro were available, and a series of over 

 fifty specimens collected at Lumbo during July 1918, 



A manure-heap is one of the best collecting-grounds for this 



