HABITS OF CERTAIN REPTILES. 219 



course, have been settled by marking the females, but the diffi- 

 culty has been that they are particularly wary and hard to catch. 

 I have satisfied myself, however, that any particular male can 

 always be found within the limits of a small area day by day, and 

 that the females keep within the same neighbourhood is indicated 

 by both sexes habitually seeking the same resting place night after 

 night. 



During several months of the year 1912 a male lizard 

 invariably slept under the eaves of my bungalow, gaining access 

 thereto by climbing one particular pillar. On one occasion when 

 it sought the usual resting place I drove it down, but it returned 

 a few minutes later. I frightened it off twice again and even 

 then it came back, and finally I allowed it to climb up. 



An old female, which I knew well because it had a bulbous 

 stump in the place of its tail, always entered a particular hole in 

 the wall of the bungalow at night-time. The young lizards 

 wander to a far greater extent, not attaching themselves to any 

 particular group, and I do not think that they seek nightly any 

 regular sleeping place. 



The male lizard is a strict disciplinarian, and if one of his harem 

 happens to offend him he chases her and endeavours to inflict a 

 bite. The females have in consequence a due respect for him, so 

 much so, that if some one drops a number of butterflies in the 

 vicinity the females, as a rule, wait for the male to take his fill 

 before attempting to satisfy their appetites, and if one of the 

 females does presume to attempt to share the meal, the male 

 becomes so filled with the desire to inflict vengeance that he will 

 desert the prey and chase the offender with the utmost activity, 

 often leaving the other females to test the meal. 



The remarkable subservience of the females appears to be 

 connected with the great disparity in the numbers of the sexes. 

 The male's responsibilites seem to be in excess of his capacities, so 

 that the females are forced to resort to various artifices to secure 

 their share of his attentions. This solicitation usually takes the 

 form of running up to the male, elevating the tail in front of 

 him and turning it to one side, but even then he frequently 

 responds by biting the importunate female. If she runs away, 

 however, he will sometimes pursue, and unless she allows herself 

 to be caught too readily, her end may be attained. I am sure 

 that this little manoeuvre does act as an incentive to the male. 



Previous to the act of pairing, the male mounts the female from 

 one side and supports himself by gripping the neck in his jaws, 

 her tail being raised and deflected to the opposite side. When 

 coupling has been initiated, the male releases the neck of the 

 female and takes up a position more or less at a right angle to her 

 while it is in progress. If disturbed, both of course endeavour 

 to rush away, and the male will often drag the female for a distance 

 of some feet, sometimes up a tree, befoie uncoupling results. 

 The pi"ocess usually lasts two or three minutes. 



The eggs, in a cluster of three or foui', are deposited in the 



15* 



