_Omninò viridis; fronte subconcavo; squamulis capitis planis._
DESCRIPTION.—Head thick, swollen across the posterior part, concave
between the eyes, and forwards nearly to the snout, which is
rounded. Scales of the head larger towards the fore part, nearly
flat. Eyes round, large; ears longitudinally oval. Body covered
with small nearly equal scales. Tail round, one-fifth longer than
the body. Limbs short, the anterior, when placed against the side,
reaching but little more than half way to the thigh; the posterior
reaching about two-thirds the distance towards the shoulder. Toes
short; on the anterior foot the first is the shortest, then the
second, the fifth, and the fourth; on the posterior increasing in
the same series; all compressed towards the extremity, and all
furnished with small curved close claws.
The colour is a fine green.
It was taken at the Bay of Islands, New Zealand. It lives on trees, and
is said to make a laughing noise.
This species greatly resembles _Naultinus Elegans_[3] of Mr. Gray, of
which a beautiful specimen is in the British Museum. Upon a comparison
of the two, however, I find that they differ in the following
particulars. In the present species the head is concave between the
eyes, and forwards nearly to the snout; in the other, this part is quite
plain; the scales of the head in this species are flat; in the other
they are convex. The colour of this species is uniformly green, whereas
_N. Elegans_ has several markings of a yellow colour, each distinctly
bordered with black.
Footnote 3:
See Fauna of New Zealand, p. 203. Zool. Misc. p. 72.
FAMILIA—LACERTIDÆ.
GENUS—AMEIVA. _Cuvier._
AMEIVA LONGICAUDA. _Mihi._