Buirrü.—On a New Tuaiara, "s 898 
that of the Bay of Plenty ; so much so, in fact, that they niust be regarded, 
if not as absolutely distinct species, at any rate as very strongly marked 
geographical races. My present opinion inclines to the view of their being 
distinct species, owing their parentage, of course, to a common ancestor, but 
sufficiently differentiated in their characters by long insulation as to war- 
rant their specific separation. In form and size they resemble each other, 
but they are entirely different in colour. The Karewa Island form, with 
which we have long been familiar, is of a dark olivaceous-brown, appearing 
sometimes almost black, with minute white spots on the sides and limbs, 
while the lizards from the Brothers Islands are of a dull yellowish-olive, 
brighter on the sides and limbs, and irregularly spotted or marked all over 
the body with pale yellow. This variegated appearance is especially notice- 
able in the half-grown animal, in which the spotted markings are much 
lighter, and therefore more conspicuous. 
Assuming that this form represents a distinct species, and that Ihave not 
been anticipated in the discovery by any of the recipients of those sent to 
England by Sir Julius Vogel, I propose to give it a distinctive name, and in 
doing so I am glad to have the opportunity of associating with this branch 
of our local zoology the name of the foremost among living herpetologists, 
Dr. Albert Giinther, F.R.S. This is the more fitting, as Dr. Giinther has 
so completely investigated the anatomy and systematic affinities of this 
singular form. I shall first give the description of the dark-coloured species 
taken from the Karewa specimens in my possession, and then the distin- 
guishing characters of the supposed new species, founded on a large series of 
living examples of both sexes and of all ages. 
1. Sphenodon punctatum, Gray. 
Dark olivaceous-brown, more or less covered, especially on the sides and 
limbs, with minute spots or rounded specs of white ; under parts yellowish- 
grey, shading into ashy-grey on the throat. The spines of the nuchal and 
dorsal crests are white, of the caudal dark brown ; scales of the back, head, 
tail, and limbs small, granular, nearly uniform ; the irregular folds of the 
skin fringed at the top with a series of rather large scales ; an oblique ridge 
of large scales on each side of the base of the tail, and a few shorter longi- 
tudinal ridges of rather smaller ones on each side of the upper part of the 
tail. Irides rich brown with minute golden reticulations on the upper 
side, and a narrow elliptical black pupil ; claws yellowish horn-colour, with 
brown tips. 
The sexes vary appreciably both in size and colour. In the male there 
is a brighter tinge of olive, and the spots are clear and distinct, imparting 
sometimes to the entire surface a speckled appearance. The throat also 
has a bluer tinge, with numerous interrupted series of white scales from the 
