Vol. XXI, pp. 69-84 March 21, 1908 



PROCEEDINGS 



OF THE 



BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON £?> 



uj L i E 



THE REPTILES AND BATRACHIANS OF McLENNAN 



COUNTY, TEXAS. 



BY JOHN K. STRECKER, JR. 



Baylor University, Waco, Texas. 



McLennan is one of the north-central counties of Texas, with 

 an area of 1,080 square miles. Waco, the county-seat, where 

 most of my collecting has been done, is located in the central 

 part, on the Brazos River, and has an elevation of something 

 over 400 feet. 



The eastern and southern portions are low. From Waco 

 southward into Falls County, the country is rich bottom-land 

 drained by the Brazos River and Tehuacana Creek and with 

 occasional ponds and small grassy lagoons scattered here and 

 there. The principal timber is post-oak and pecan. In this 

 district, here denominated the post-oak country, three species of 

 reptiles and a batrachian (Anolis carolinensis Cuvier, Ophisau- 

 r us centralis L., Tropidonotus fasciatus L., and Diemyctylus viri- 

 descens meridional is Cope) are found, that do not occur in other 

 portions of the county. Crotalus horridus L. and Enmeces qvin- 

 quelineatus L. are rather common, although rare in other 

 sections. 



From Waco westward to Gatesville, Coryell County, the ele- 

 vation steadily increases. At Hewitt, only nine miles from the 

 city, the altitude is 656 feet, and at McGregor, eighteen miles 

 distant, 713. The handsome ring-necked lizard (Crotaphytus 

 collaris Say) has been collected in Coryell County only a short 

 distance from the line and it is merely a matter of time when it 

 will also be collected in McLennan. 



The Bosque country is the name here used to designate the 

 northwestern section in which is located the villages of Crawford 

 and China Springs. This district commences at the Bosque 

 12— Pkoc. Biol. Soc. Wash., Vol. XXI, 1908. (69) 



