The Skinks or Smooth-scaled Lizards 



Habits of the Species 



The habits of the various species of Eumeces are so similar 

 that the writer simply gives his observations of the Blue-tailed 

 Skink (Red-headed Skink). 



This lizard is so difficult to capture that species of other 

 genera, rarer and more restricted in habitat, are the most fre- 

 quently seen in captivity. While collecting in the South in 

 mid-summer, with Red-headed Lizards or "Scorpions" abun- 

 dant on all sides, the writer succeeded in procuring less than a 

 dozen living examples during two weeks' time, although every 

 device from a fine snare of copper wire to a baited hook was 

 tried. They would allow one to approach to within a distance 

 of about ten feet, then scurry for cover. The reptiles invariably 

 bask or hunt for insect prey within a short distance of secure 

 hiding places, such as a burrow under a fallen tree or a cavity 

 in the trunk itself. Unlike many species of lizards that run for 

 an indefinite distance when disturbed, then stop and peer back 

 at the object of their fright, the Skink flashes out of sight at 

 the slighest shadow. As it emerges from its burrow, it looks 

 cautiously about to ascertain whether all danger is past and 

 the movement of a finger will send it back again. 



Interested in studying the transition of colour from the 

 young to the adult phase, the writer went again to the collecting 

 grounds, but in the early spring when the nights were cold and 

 the lizards were yet seeking their hibernating quarters, after 

 the sun had gone down. Much time was given to stripping the 

 bark from dead trees and during the process large numbers of 

 snakes and lizards were obtained. These were snugly buried 

 in the soft, rotting wood beneath the bark in the company of 

 centipedes, scorpions and ants. On the second trip there was 

 no difficulty in collecting large numbers, though no time could 

 be wasted when a specimen was once exposed in its hiding, as 

 the creature would endeavour to rush to the bottom of the tree 

 trunk and burrow in the debris beneath it. Within ten days 

 over two hundred of the desired examples were taken, showing 

 all phases of the colour variation from the young individual to 

 very old specimens. With the rapid development of the Southern 

 spring, came increasing activity of the reptiles and before the 

 writer left for the North, the capture of a "Scorpion," would 

 have been a difficult matter as the lizards no longer sought shelter 



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