6. LiAiis. 247 



1. Lialis burtonii. 



Lialis burtonii, Omy, Cat. p. 69. 

 Lialis bioatenata, Gray, I. c. 

 Lialis punctulata, Gray, I c. 

 Lialis burtonii, Gray, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1834, p. 134; Dum.^Bibr. v. 

 p. 831 ; Gray, in Grey's Trav. Austral, ii. p. 437, pi. iii. %. 1, and 

 Zool. Misc. p. 52, and Zool. Ereb. ^ Terr., Rept. p. 5, pi. viii. 

 fig. 2 ; A. Bum. Cat. Meth. Rept. p. 104 ; Giinth. Ann. & Mag. 

 JV. H. (3) XX. 1867, p. 46. 



bicatenata, Gray, Zool. Miso. p. 52, and Zool. Ereb. ^ Terr. 



p. 5 ; Peters, Mon. Berl. Ac. 1873, p. 606. 



punctulata, Gray, Zool. Misc. p. 52, and Zool. Ereb. ^ Terr. 



p. 6, pi. viii. fig. 1 ; Giinth. I. o. 

 leptorhyncba, Peters, I. c. p. 605. 



Snout narrow, depressed, long, acuminate, truncate at the tip, 

 witli angular canthus rostralis ; eye small, with circular scaly rudi- 

 mentary lid; ear-opening elliptical, oblique. Tail, when intact, 

 nearly as long as head and body, gradually tapering to a fine point. 

 Eudiments of hind limbs extremely small, scarcely distinct, especially 

 in females. Four prseanal pores, frequently indistinct in females. 

 Snout covered with small plates, variable in number and arrange- 

 ment ; three supraorbitals, median large ; loreal region covered 

 with numerous small scales ; the rest of the head with equal scales ; 

 rostral very low ; nostril pierced in the posterior portion of a nasal ; 

 thirteen to seventeen upper labials, all very small, separated from 

 the orbit by two or three rows of scales ; mental rather large, tra- 

 pezoid or pentagonal ; twelve to sixteen lower labials ; a series of 

 dilated gular scales on each side, separated from the lower labials by 

 one or two rows of scales. 19 or 21 (occasionally 20, according to 

 Peters) longitudinal rows of scales round the middle of the body ; 

 the dilated ventral scales in 70 to 100 pairs. Three or five anal scales. 

 Ground-colour brown, grey, reddish, or yellowish, variously marked 

 or uniform. 



Head 27 mUlim. 



Body 220 „ 



TaU 270 „ 



Australia ; New Guinea. 



The rich series before me shows that this Lizard varies extremely 

 in the degree of elongation of the snout, in the scutellation of the 

 head, in the number of rows of scales, and in colour ; but I am 

 satisfied that the several forms hitherto described should be united 

 into one species, which I divide into numerous varieties of coloration. 



* A white labial band, extending along the side of the body. 



t The band very narrow and bordering the lower lip only. 



Vab. a. The sides of the head between the labial white line and a 

 more or less distinct narrow line from the tip of the snout along 



