ox THE ZOOLOGICAL POSITION OF TEXAS. 25 



ton, Helotes, and Fort Concho. I heard it in the streets of Houston 

 and San Antonio. In the former city it was abundant in copuUl, in the 

 ditches that border some of the streets, in September. The cry is loud 

 for the size of the animal, and is similar to that of the Bv.fo americanus, 

 except in being higher i^itched, and more nasal (in the vulgar sense). 

 The animals are extremely shy, and become silent on the approach of 

 human footsteps; and as only the tip of their nose projects above the 

 water-level, they disappear beneath it without leaving a ripple. 



Lithodytes lafmns Cope, American Naturalist, 1878, p. 186. Size rather 

 large ; frontoparietal region fiat, its width equal to the vertical diameter 

 of the memhranum tympani. Skin smooth, that of the abdomen thrown 

 into a disc by a cu^cular fold. Digital dilatations small on all the feet. 

 The toes have no dermal free margins; those of the hand are long, 

 while those of the foot are rather short. The fourth linger is as large 

 as the forearm and exceeds the thumb, which in turn is considerably 

 longer than the second finger. There are two strong palmar tubercles, 

 and the entocuneiform is prominent and obtuse. The muzzle marks a 

 point beyond the middle of the tarsns of the extended hind limb. The 

 tarsus to the entocuneiform is just half as long as the remainder of the 

 foot. There are prominent tubercles on the inferior side of the digits of 

 both extremities. The head is wide and flat, and the loreal region 

 oblique. The nasal region is flat and gently decurved, and the lip pro- 

 jects a little beyond the muzzle. The long diameter of the eye equals 

 the length from its border to the external nostril, which is very near the 

 end of the muzzle, and exceeds the long or vertical diameter of the 

 memhranum tympani by one-half of the latter. The Midth of the tym- 

 panic membrane is five-sixths of its height. The tongue is subround. 

 The osflapharyngea are large, but smaller than the choauai. The vome- 

 rine teeth are in two short, nearly transverse patches, on elevated bases, 

 their apices nearly in line with the posterior border of the choani^. In 

 younger individuals the choanse are obliquely longitudinal. 



Length of head and body, m. .070; length of head to line of posterior 

 borders of tympanum, axially .021; width at latter point, .031; length of 

 posterior leg, .107. 



Color of superior surfaces brownish gray marked with a few large 

 brown spots with pale centers. The largest of these is on each scapular 

 region; a smaller pair is one over the extremity of each sacral trans- 

 ^'erse process. There are several on the coccygeal region, and above the 

 groin; one on each eyelid, and one or two on the middle of the nasal 



