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Show 1880.] MR. E. R. ALSTON ON ANTECHINOMYS LANIGERA. 187 eggs in hayers, one over the other, very nicely arranged in a circular form They throw a very thin and loose covering of sand over them to the depth of about 12 or 13 inches, and then make a small heap ot sand over the place. ' Very much like the Iguanas, Crocodiles also seem to lay all their eggs (between twenty and thirty in number) at the same time, and never disturb the nest until the hatching-time is finished, which lasts nearly ten weeks. "They generally watch the eggs during the day, remaining in the hole made for themselves, and go at night in search of food. On cloudy and rainy days they are frequently seen upon the eggs, perhaps to warm them, but at other times move about the place or remain in the hole. " All these actions are performed by the females ; the males are never seen about the nesting-place. " They do not allow anybody to go near the eggs; they make a fearful roaring noise, and attempt to attack people who go near. They keep a very strict watch, and very seldom or never quit the place during the day; but the wild Jackal (a sagacious brute) watches them carefully, and sometimes gets at the eggs in the absence of the mother. "It is very difficult to find out the spot where the eggs are laid by Crocodiles, although they usually lay near the hole in which they live. "The mother, who watches the place where the eggs are laid, never interferes with the nest, but carefully and attentively waits until the young are hatched, and then takes them into her large hole and under her protection, where they remain under her care for some time." Mr. Edward R. Alston exhibited a coloured drawing of an adolescent specimen of Tapirus dowi in the Paris Museum, for which he was indebted to the kindness of Prof. A. Milne-Edwards. This individual, which was of an almost uniform dark-brown colour, had been obtained by Mr. Carmiol on the Atlantic coast of Costa Rica, thus negativing Mr. Alston's former suggestion that Dow's Tapir might prove to be confined to the Pacific slopes of Central America1. The British Museum has lately received a skeleton of T. bairdi from the same district, proving that the two forms are found together, at least in some localities. Mr. Alston also exhibited a specimen of a remarkable and little-known Australian Marsupial, Antechinomys lanigera (Gd.), belonging to the Museum of the University of Cambridge, remarking that Mr. Gould's original illustration2 was so misleading, and Mr. Krefft's generic characters3 so insufficient, that it was only by a reference to 1 P. Z. S. 1879, p. 666. 2 Mamm. of Austr. i. pl. xxxiii. 3 P. Z. S. 1866, p. 434. |