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length be feeling the effects of starvation, and it was evident 

 that they were becoming emaciated and less active, they were 

 on two occasions taken out of their cage and forcibly fed with 

 strips of raw meat — a matter of some little difficulty in the 

 case of the larger specimen on account of his size and strength. 

 It was after the second of these feedings, when possibly ex- 

 cited by the handling or by the taste of meat, that the larger 

 reptile seized the live rabbit, then in the cage, by the loins, 

 holding on to it with a bulldog grip that was never changed or 

 relaxed until the victim died. But it made no attempt to eat 

 the rabbit, though this was left dead in the cage for two days. 

 The guinea pigs used to run over the reptiles, sometimes even 

 perching on their heads in the most confiding way. 



The result of this abstinence from food was a progressive 

 emaciation and dwindling vigour, though on being excited they 

 showed themselves still capable of powerful and active move- 

 ments. Even at the end of the starvation period of three 

 months the larger specimen still retained, as was shown by dis- 

 section, two solid masses of fat weighing a pound each. These 

 will be subsequently described. 



In their wild state, Mr. Warren informs me, the Perentie 

 is practically omnivorous as regards flesh foods, its diet mainly 

 consisting of other lizards, snakes, birds, eggs, the smaller 

 animals, and, of late years, the rabbit, the only animal of small 

 size that is immune to its attacks being the echidna. The late 

 Mr. Gillen told me he saw one catch and kill a one-third grown 

 kangaroo, and then, placing his forefeet on the body, it tore 

 out pieces of flesh like a dog. 



Everyone that has seen these reptiles in their wild state 

 testifies to the extraordinary pace with which they can travel 

 over the ground, and that agility was still manifest in our 

 specimens under the limitations of their cage. In this, when 

 moving quickly, their gait was distinctly quadrupedal, the 

 body, head, and tail being raised some inches above the ground, 

 but, I am informed by Mr. P. Barbe Ayliffe, that when travel- 

 ling at their topmost speed the forelimbs are raised from the 

 ground, so that their gait then becomes bipedal. We had, 

 however, no opportunity of observing this under the restricted 

 space in which our specimens were confined. I have myself 

 seen this mode of progression, which recalls that attributed to 

 some of the extinct dinosaurs, to take place in the Frilled 

 Lizard (Chlamydosaurus kingii), and it has also been noticed 

 by Mr. J. Rau, one of our taxidermists, in the case of 

 Am/phibolurus cristatus under extreme speed. It is prob- 

 able, I think, that closer observation would show a similar mode 

 of progression for other of the more swiftly moving lizards. 



One feature of the Perentie became immediately apparent. 



