H.—33

25

Writer and Date. Remarks. Colour and Markings. Professor W. B. Benhani, | " It would be extremely important and interesting to have a careful Otago University ; 21st study made of the various forms previously regarded as distinct May, 1912 species, and especially to have some really good coloured drawings made of them, together with a careful account and pictures of the surroundings upon which each, variety lives ; with notes on the vegetation, the colour of the rocks, the climatic and physical conditions. It would perhaps throw some light on the conditions existing in the early days when the tuataras were the only reptiles on. the face of the world. It would enable us, too, to find out what is the significance of the colour. I do not think it is ' protective,' for the animal has no natural enemies, but it is likely to be due merely to isolation in the different islands." T. F. Cheeseman, curator, " I think far too much importance has been assigned to the so-called Auckland Museum.; 22nd differences in colouration. Much depends upon age, the change of March, 1913 skin, and possibly upon the breeding season." A. Duncan ; 30th April, " When on the ground they resemble the colour of dead wood and 1913 leaves, and, until they move, are hard to see. I had a dog that would hunt them out without touching them. By that means I came across many I would have passed unnoticed." Size. R. Leighton; 24th March, "The largest tuatara I have seen was about 17 in. long." (Cuvier 1913 Island.) T. H. Turner ; 31st March, " I have seen lizards from 4 in. to 30 in. long." (Stephen Island.) 1913 A. Duncan ; 30th April, " The smallest tuatara I have seen was between 6 in. and 8 in., and 1913 the largest 21|in. (carefully measured)." (Cuvier Island.) H. Kent; 12th April, 1913 " I only saw two young ones, but they would be over 6 in. long, and I never saw any under that size." (East Cape.) Lairs. T. H. Turner ; 3rd March, " During part of the year (breeding-time) thousands of dove-petrels visit 1.913 the island, and these birds lay their eggs and hatch their eggs in the same holes as the lizards live in. While digging out these birds for their eggs I have come across dozens of lizards in the same holes as the birds, and they seem to be very friendly with each other." (Stephen Island.) P. W. Crenfell ; 7th April, " They prefer to shelter in holes scooped out by the mutton-birds or 1913 dove-petrels, although some excavate a place for themselves. The locality chosen must have the appearance of safety, whether under a rock, or open faces, or under the roots of trees ; always the light peaty soil must be underneath them, and the surroundings give promise of beetles or insects." (Stephen Island.) H. Kent; 12th April, 1913 "I have seen them on a moonlight night scraping holes on the track leading to the lighthouse." (The Brothers.) S. Hart; 24th April, 1913 " On The Brothers they are always found in petrel-burrows ; on East Cape they burrow sometimes for themselves, as petrels are comparatively scarce on the latter island. A burrow about 18 in. long was made in my garden on East Cape in one night.'.' R. S. Wilson ; 3rd January, " The dove-petrels every year visit the island in their thousands to lay 1914 and hatch their young. They burrow into the earth for yards at a stretch and there make their nests, and very little ground on this place has escaped them. The whole island is simply honeycombed more or less by them, and the chances are that they very often strike on a nest of eggs already made by the lizard. In this way a great many of the eggs are destroyed, causing a big loss every year. Eggs and Development. R. Leighton ; 24th March, " The nest was in a dry mutton-bird burrow containing seventeen eggs. 1913 This was on East Cape Island." T. H. Turner; 3rd March, " I was fortunate enough to find ten eggs of the lizard, and on watching 1913 them develop I think when hatched the young ones would be about 4 in. long. It takes, I believe, about twelve months for the eggs to hatch." (Stephen. Island.) A. Duncan ; 30th April, " On one occasion I found a nest of tuatara-eggs ; they were simply 191.3 lying on a bare spot of earth on. the rocky face of the cliff facing the sun. Wheh I returned to the spot some time afterwards there were only parts of the skin of the eggs left. I did not count the eggs, but they looked to me something like a good handful of peas, from the size of a pea to the size of a nutmeg, and a dirty-grey colour." (Cuvier Island.)