86 Strecker — Notes on Habits of Tivo Arkansas Salamanders. 



type (No. 11,564) was unlabeled and its habitat remained unknown until 

 Combs collected his first specimen in the month of October, 1894. This 

 specimen was presented to me and I disposed of it, through exchange, to 

 Mr. C. S. Brimley. Mr. Brimley sent it to Washington and it is now in 

 the National collection. 



Regarding this specimen, Dr. Stejneger made the following comments: 

 "A direct comparison with the type specimen shows the peculiar colora- 

 tion to be identical, with the trifling exception that in the type the light 

 crossband from arm to arm is interrupted in the middle of the back, 

 while in the new specimen it is continuous like the other crossbands. A 

 pale crossband between the eyes, not mentioned by Prof. Cope, is present 

 in both specimens. The new specimen is comparatively fresh and the 

 ground color appears to have been black, the crossbands silver-gray."* 



The other three specimens were sent to me alive. They were the most 

 beautiful salamanders I have ever seen, and I have examined specimens 

 of nearly all of our eastern North American forms. The ground color was 

 shiny black and in two of the specimens all of the crossbands were of a 

 deep sulphur-yellow. In the third example (the female) the anterior 

 bands were yellow, the posterior ones almost white. 



The following notes on the capture and breeding habits of this interest- 

 ing species I am quoting from the letters and field notes of the collector : 



" Near the city is a creek which is dry during some seasons but runs in 

 wet weather. At a certain point, about a yard from this creek and lying at 

 the foot of a sweet-gum tree, is a log about ten feet in length. This log 

 is partly imbedded in the mud, very much decayed, and when I first 

 visited it, was almost covered by pine-needles. Under it are large holes 

 made by crayfish. On turning the log over I found the salamander and 

 a king snake." (Oct., 1894. Letter.) 



"A couple of days ago I found a second black and yellow salamander 

 in the same place as the last. It was dead and in an advanced stage of 

 decomposition." (Nov., 1894. Letter.) 



"I hunted for further specimens of this fine salamander, without suc- 

 cess, until the following spring. One night in March we had a severe 

 rainstorm. The next morning, as soon as the sun came out, I made a 

 trip to my log, and on turning it over there lay two of the much-desired 

 batrachians. On my looking closer I could see that one of the two had 

 been depositing some eggs. There were thirty-five of these eggs so far and 

 she continued to deposit more, as she crawled leisurely on, with the male 

 closely following ami inspecting each one as it was deposited. The eggs 

 were placed about an eighth of an inch apart. By this time she had 

 almost readied one of the crayfish holes, so I quickly seized her and the 

 male and carefully rolled the log back in place. I secured a water-tight 

 box, filled it halt lull of mud and water and placed the salamanders in it 

 and they seemed perfectly satisfied. About 4 p. M. that day I decided to 

 take another look under the log, and on again turning it over found a 

 third specimen. The specimens measured eight, live and a half and six 

 inches respectively. [Length of head, body and tail. The tail in the 

 • Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 1894, p. 599. 



