Abstract
THE above heading in NATURE, vol. xxvi. p. 29, rather surprises me, as though voices in lizards were a recent discovery. The loud and plaintive “gui—gui—gui” made by the large land lizard of that name, has been well known to me for the last seventeen years, and is of course well known to every Assamese. The call is always heard in twilight, in the depths of the forest, and when once heard is not mistakable for that of any other animal. It is plain, monotonous, loud, and repeated with two second intervals some eight or ten times, when there is a pause of about two minutes, and it is repeated. For those who do not understand the Hunterian system of spelling I would write it gooee—gooee, the oo most prolonged. The gui is about 3 to 31/2 feet long—from snout to tip of tail—which latter exceeds the body and head. Colour grey-green, with clear yellow scales here and there—at times grouped—and that gives a mottled appearance. The tail has a double row of sharp scale-spines along its crest, and if suddenly lashed can cut the skin of any bare-legged bystanders.
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PEAL, S. Voice in Lizards. Nature 26, 320 (1882). https://doi.org/10.1038/026320a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/026320a0
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