EAST AFRICAN LIZARDS. 



155 



on the I'liins of a hut ; they were unusually spotted between the 

 dorsal lines, I marked one down and cauglit it beneath a beam : 

 to my surprise it had no spots. It was just possible the speci- 

 men I was originally pursuing had got away and I had captured 

 another; on the other hand, the blotches may be a sign of healtli 

 and vigour, and disappear when the lizard is frightened. A 

 female was taken at Morogoro with a salmon-coloured throat ; 

 it was also nuich spotted dorsally. At Nairobi (IS.vii. 19), the 

 weather being very cold, two Skinks were seen upon the wall, the 

 one having chased the other up ; both fell off the wall and, being- 

 sluggish, were easily captured. One was a male (85'109 mm.) and 

 had the throat mottled brown ; the other, whose sex was not 

 determined, had the throat mottled oranoe. 



The following notes were made on pregnant females : — 

 28. viii. 15. Nairobi. Ovules small. 



26.x. 19. ,, 7 large young, about 2 J incbes 



in length. 



24. xii. 14. Delagoa Bay. 4 young, 1| to 14 inches, and 1 



bud egg. 



16. xii. 16. Morogoro. Ovules small. 



At Morogoro (23. xii. 16) a striped Skink was seen running 

 along with a nauseous gaudy grasshopper in its mouth. Bitting- 

 after sunset one day (27.i. 17.) by the river-bank, a Skink came 

 out of a hole just beside me, and snapped the head off a millipede 

 which was also out for an evening stroll. Grasshoppers, a beetle, 

 and a land-snail's shell were found in the stomach of a Nairobi 

 specimen (5. ix. 19), 



On three occasions specimens of this Skink were found in the 

 stomach of hawks at Morogoro: — (i,) Kestrel [Cerclweis tinnun- 

 culus), 4. i. 18 ; (ii,) Harrier (Buter b. rufiventris), 31, i. 18 ; (iii.) 

 Circus macrurus, 28. ii, 18, 



Some cats are very fond of harassing these Skinks. At Nairobi 

 (5.ix. 19)a cat brought one into the house; twice she released 

 and recaught it, yet the lizard did not drop its tail, I held the 

 cat up by the tail until she released the Skink, and, though she 

 had chewed it, when dropped, it i-an away and escaped into the 

 garden. Somehow she managed to again find it, and brought it 

 into the house in a dying state, its tail still intact. 



Nematode worms {Oockoristica sp,) were found in the stomach 

 of the Dar-es-Salaam specimen in large numbers. 



Lygosoma suxdevallii (Smith), 



Very large numbers of this snake-like Skink were collected. 

 For the present paper fifteen specimens from Nairobi, Ngari 

 Mtoni, Moschi, and Morogoro were available, and a seiies of over 

 fifty specimens collected at Lumbo during July 1918. 



A manure-heap is one -of the best collecting-grounds for this 



