634 MR. STAlfLBt s* PLowEE olf TiSE [May 16, 



Many people have heard how a hill-fort in India, long supposed 

 to be impregnable, was captured by means of a lizard which went 

 up the perpendicular rock-face, with a cord attached to it, by means 

 of which the attackuog soldiers erentually ascended. In Bangkok 

 it is said that people's hats are stolen by means of the Tokay. 

 The lizard, with a cord round its body, is let down at night from a 

 roof or veranda over the head of a passer-by in the street ; it 

 struggles to find a foothold, touches the hat, seizes it, and next 

 moment is jerked up by the man, watching above, cord in hand, 

 and the astonished victim is at a loss to know whither his hat has 

 suddenly vanished. 



Colour (in life). Upper surface and sides of head, body, and 

 limbs grey (varying from pale bluish to very dark rich violet), 

 profusely spotted ; the spots are either very pale bluish grey, 

 almost white, or rich brick-red. On the head these spots are 

 fairly symmetrically arranged, the red ones predomiuate, and the 

 light ones are not so whitish as they are on the body ; these latter 

 on the top of the head coalesce more or less into longitudinal lines. 

 On the back the light spots are grouped into narrow transverse 

 bands ; usually there is one of these on the neck, one on the 

 shoulders, four between the limbs, and one on the loins. The 

 spots on the limbs are smaller than those on the back, red and 

 light grey, subequal in size and in about equal numbers. The 

 upper surfaces of the digits are similarly marked, the spots beins 

 smaller than on the limbs. The nails are pale blue-grey, like 

 the light spots. 



Lower sui'face of head, body, and limbs paler grey than above, 

 whitish on the chin, spotted as above, but the spots are smaller, 

 paler in colour, and not so sharply defined. The lower surfaces of 

 the digits are brownish grey. Tail grey (usually darker than the 

 back, and in young specimens dark violet, almost black), with about 

 eight narrow transverse rings of pale bliash grey (in young 

 specimens almost white). Iris yellow. 



Size. The largest specimen I have measured, a male from 

 Bangkok, was snout to vent 178 mm,, and width of head 45 mm. ; 

 it had lost its tail, which, judging from other specimens, should have 

 been nearly as long as the head and body, which would give the 

 total length of an adult Tokay to be about 356 mm. 



Hah. North-eastern India, Burmah, South China, Annam, Siam, 

 Malay Peninsula, Java, Celebes, Lombok, Ombaai, Savu, Sulu 

 Island, Philippines, Timor Laut. 



45. G-ECKO STBNTOE (Cant.). 



Platydactylus sientor, Cantor, p. 18. 



Qeclio smitJdi, Stol. J. A. S. B. 1870, pp. 161, 162. 



Geclco stentor, Giinth. E-ept. Brit. Ind. p. 102, pi. xi. fig. A ; Blgr. 

 Cat. Liz. i. p. 184. 



Eecorded from Penang by Cantor and Stoliczka. 



Hah. Burma, Andamans, Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Java, 

 Borneo. 



