ZOOLOGICAL NOTES FROM MENTONE. 237 



nine or ten inches long. It was one of the numerous varieties of 

 Lacerta viridis — " supra flavo-virens, punctis atris creberrimis varie- 

 gata" (Schreiber, ' Herpetologia Europsea,' p. 442). When surprised 

 they invariably betook themselves to a hole in a bank. I once saw a 

 small Gecko, probably Hemidactylus vemtculatus, in the street here. 



When I was in Lisbon, in April of this year (1913), I visited the 

 aquarium at Alges, and there saw several examples of TropidonoUis 

 viper mus in a glass tank, and wholly under water, with the exception 

 of their heads. The Portuguese name on the label was Cobra d'agua 

 (Water Snake). This interested me, because a friend at Mentone 

 had told me that he had seen a snake in a pond (or stream) there 

 wholly under water, and had jerked it out of the water with a stick. 

 The Green Lizard which I saw in Portugal was a totally distinct 

 variety from that which I saw in the Alpes-Maritimes. It was of a 

 pale sage-green hue, and had irregularly shaped black spots. 



I regret to say that the butterfly which I saw at Mentone on Aug. 

 24th last (as mentioned in ' The Zoologist ' (1912, p. 430) ) was not 

 Vanessa antiopa, as I thought at first, but the much rarer Charaxes 

 jasius. At the date of writing (Nov. 28th, 1912), a few Bed Admirals 

 may still be seen, and occasionally a Locust in a semi-torpid condition. 

 Last winter (1911-12) a Locust maintained its position on a slender 

 peach branch during the greater part of the winter. On Nov. 26th, 1912, 

 I found a spider beneath a large stone on the Chemin des Castagnins. 

 It proved to be the rare male Gteniza moggridgei, Cambr., the female 

 of which constructs a trap-door nest. On the 20th of the same 

 month I had taken a green Orthopterous insect (Gonocephaloides 

 nitidulus, Scop.) ; on the 22nd, Cebrio gigas, Fabr. ; on the 27th I 

 caught a Locust (Acridium cegyptium, L.). On Dec. 1st I saw a 

 Mole-Cricket (Gurtilla gryllotalpa, L.) crawling along a hard garden- 

 path. The Mentonese call it " ortolan " (gardener), and say that it 

 makes holes in potatoes. On the 27th of that month I saw the last 

 butterfly of the season — a Bed Admiral. The day was bright and 

 warm, and the insect remained on the ground with fully expanded 

 wings for some minutes, as if to absorb every ray of sunshine. 



On the evening of Jan. 25th of the present year I perceived at the 

 side of the garden path three minute and faint specks of light which 

 proceeded from a female Lampyris. The creature was absolutely 

 wingless, and bore some resemblance to a woodlouse, but did not roll 

 into a ball, but crawled about on short legs. The upper surface was 

 fiat and projected beyond the under surface. When placed on its 

 back it righted itself by means of a steady twist of the whole body. 



