| OCR Text |
Show 872 MR. S. B. FLOWER ON THE REPTILES AND [Dec. 1, colours are on the neck, back, and sides irregularly spotted reticulated with darker; or else there are dark bands longitudinal on the neck and transverse on the body; while the limbs and tail are usually marked with transverse dark brown irregular bands. In April the lips, cheeks, and throat of the males were very beautiful with golden, red, and crimson shades on the scales. Both this species and C. versicolor seem of similar habits, liking bright sunshine and frequenting gardens and cultivated open land with small bushes, darting about the grass and climbing the branches with the utmost agility. When caught they try to defend themselves by biting fiercely. Hab. Tenasserim, Malay Peninsula and Archipelago. 32. CALOTES VERSICOLOR, Daud. Calotes versicolor, Boul. Cat. Liz. i. p. 321, & Fauna Brit. Ind., Rept. p. 135, fig. p. 136. Neither Cantor nor Stoliczka seem to have observed this species in the Malay countries. F. Midler records it from Penang in the Bale Museum, and Blanford mentions it in the collection he got from Dr. Dennys from Singapore and neighbouring localities. I found this species fairly common about the Sepoy Lines, Penang ; a female caught in March contained seven white leathery-skinned eggs, and one caught in April contained eight. In the newly-cleared country around Kulim, Kedah, there were large numbers of Calotes; when the jungle has been cut down, stumps of the larger forest trees are left standing here and there, several yards high out of the ground; on a bright sunshiny day, a Calotes was to be seen on the summit of nearly every one of these stumps, apparently enjoying the warmth aud waiting for passing insects. The only specimen I obtained here was of this species. Hab. Afghanistan, Beloochistan, India, Ceylon, Burma, Southern China, Siam, and the Malay Peninsula. 33. LIOLEPIS BELLII, Gray. Llolepls bellii, Cantor, p. 41; Boul. Cat. Liz. i. p. 403. There are specimens in the British Museum from Penang, from Cantor and Capt. Stafford. Cantor says, " This species appears to be numerous, but local. Twelve were at one time obtained from a spice plantation in Province Wellesley." Hab. Southern India, Burma, Southern China, Siam, and Malay Peninsula. Family VARANID^;. 34. VARANUS FLAVESCENS, Gray. Varanus flavescens, Cantor, p. 28; Giinther, Rept. Brit. Ind. p. 65, pl. ix. fig. A ; Boul. Cat. Liz. ii. p. 309. Cantor obtained a single specimen at Penang. Hab. Northern India, Burma, Malay Peninsula. |
