FAMILY SCINCID^E. 29 



GENUS SCINCUS. Daudin. 



Head oblong, pointed, covered with plates. Jaws furnished with closely set teeth ; two rows 

 of teeth on the palate. Tongue fleshy, slightly extensible, emarginate. Tympanum appa- 

 rent. Neck as large as the head. Body elongated. Tail conical. Body and tail covered 

 with small imbricated scales. Extremities with free and nailed claws. 



THE BLUE-TAILED SKINK. 



SCINCUS FASCIATUS. 



PLATE VIII. FIG 17. — (CABINET OF THE LYCEUM.) 



Laccrtafasciala. Lin. Sys. Nat. p. 209. 

 Blue-tailed Lizard. Penn. Arct. Zool. Vol. 2, p. 334. 



Scincus quinquelineatus? Daud. Hist. Nat. Rept. Vol. 4, p. 272, and Var. p. 275. 

 Lacerta quinquelineata. Green, Acad. Nat. Sciences, Vol. 1, p. 348. 

 Scincas id. Harlan, Med. and Phys. Researches, p. 138. 



S. bicolor? Id. lb. p. 139. 



Scincusfasciatus. Holbrook, N. Am. Herpetology, Vol. 3, p. 45, pi. 7; and Vol. 2, p. 127, pi. 18, of Ed. 2da. Storer, 

 Mass. Rep. p. 219. 



Characteristics. Bluish black above. Body with five yellow lines ; the vertebral line dividing 

 into two on the summit of the head. Tail often blue. Length 6-8 inches. 



Description. Body cylindrical and tapering gradually to the tail, and covered with longitu- 

 dinal series of imbricated rhomboidal scales. Vertical plate hexagonal ; five occipital plates, 

 with large scales behind ; eleven orbital plates proper, and two of the upper labial plates, 

 complete the circle : rostral plate large and pentagonal. Nostrils near the snout. Eyes very 

 small. External ear opening large, oval, vertical. Tail cylindrical, continuous with the body, 

 and longer, with a central row of large plates beneath. Vent transverse, with two very large 

 and two smaller scales in front. Fore feet short, scaly, with five small sharp nails ; hind feet 

 larger, with long slender toes, also furnished with nails ; the second toe longer than the others. 



Color. Body of a shining bluish black, and appears alternately striped with black and yellow 

 longitudinal lines ; this is produced by five bright yellow longitudinal lines over the upper 

 surface of the body. The central or dorsal line divides on the head, and a branch passes to 

 each nostril ; another line on each side begins above the eye, and a third beneath this on each 

 side, all gradually lost on the tail. Abdomen light bluish. Tail deep blue. Extremities 

 brownish above, light-colored beneath. 



Total length, 6-0-8-0. 



This harmless little animal, miscalled the Blue-tailed Lizard and Striped Lizard, is not 

 uncommon in the southern counties of the State. I did not hear of it in the western districts, 

 although I presume it is to be found there. It is frequently found under the bark of trees. 

 Mr. Say, in a note to Prof. Green's paper cited above, very properly denies its identity with 



