^ 



186 DR. N. ANNANDALE ON 



in a basket of papers, which are very seldom disturbed, on my writing-table in 

 Calcutta. I think they are male and female, but cannot be quite sure on this point. 

 One of them lost its tail by some accident, and the new tail took about a month to grow to 

 its former size. 



A habit of this Gecko, and also of H. flaviviridis, H. frenatus and Gehyra mutilata, 

 appears to be little known among herpetologists (although well known to all observant 

 residents in the East) and therefore worthy of record. I mean the habit of frequenting 

 the neighbourhood of artificial light at night and feeding on the insects attracted thereby. 

 I have frequently noticed, both in Calcutta, in Colombo, and in Singapore, that almost 

 every street lamp contains at least one Gecko after the lamp -lighter has gone his round. 

 In Calcutta, if a lamp is fastened to the wall of a house, either inside or out, an individual, 

 or frequently a pair, of H. flaviviridis takes up its residence in the immediate vicinity, 

 frequently behind the lamp, and issues out at night to catch prey with the aid of the light. 

 The pair of H. brookii, to which I have alluded above, were probably attracted to the basket 

 in which they live, by the fact that a lighted lamp was placed beside it every night, and 

 certainly they benefit by feeding on the insects which burn their wings. Elsewhere I have 

 noted an instance of an insect (the Mantis, Hierodula modesta) l acting in a similar manner, 

 while attention is drawn above to an identical procedure on the part of a Toad. 



The frequency with which the different species of house Geckos are seen in pairs 

 leads me to think that they are monogamous. If I am right, the association is not dis- 

 solved at the end of the breeding season in all cases ; for even at the beginning of 

 December, when the Lizards are in a semi-torpid condition and only issue from their 

 retreats occasionally, the two individuals, in the case of H. brookii, are just as frequently 

 noted together as they were in August. Solitary specimens of H. flavivirdis, however, 

 are as common as those which have, apparently, taken a mate. 



Hemidactylus leschenaultii. 

 This Gecko is abundant in all parts of Ramanad, but not in houses. Its favourite 

 situation is the trunks of Tamarinds and other trees which have a greyish bark. 

 Here its marbled grey back and sides render it most inconspicuous. In Calcutta I have 

 seen it on the walls of out-houses, but never inside a human dwelling. It has been de- 

 scribed, however, as a house Lizard, and very possibly is one in some parts of India; for 

 Gecko vertia'Ilatus, a common house Lizard in many parts of Burma and Siam, does not 

 habitually enter houses in the Siamese Malay States. The latter species is not, however, 

 so admirably concealed by its coloration on the trunks of the Areca and Cocoanut palms 

 it frequents, as H. leschenaultii is on stone walls and the bark of certain trees. 



Hemidactylus triedrus. 



Three specimens were obtained ; one at Pamban, one at Mandapam, and one at 

 Ramanad. Of the two latter, one was caught in a house and the other in a tent set up 

 in a garden. 



1 Proc. Zool. Sue. 1900, p. 852. 



