MEXICAN TAILLESS AMPHIBIANS 



63 



pink or vermilion at the base, and their bases are often encircled or 

 partially encircled by narrow black borders. The underparts are 

 whitish, irregularly speckled with black. 



The spotted toad seems to prefer desert areas and in many localities 

 is an inhabitant of rocky gulches and canyons with seepages and 

 springs. During the hot midsummer it takes refuge under large 

 flat stones and bowlders in creek bottoms, under stones partly 

 imbedded in moist earth and sand, or in niches in rock bluffs. 

 Although large numbers of them frequently congregate in pools of 

 water during the breeding season, they are rarely found except after 

 dark. The breeding season varies according to locality and meteoro- 

 logical conditions. In southern Texas, this toad breeds early in 

 March but along the northern limits of its range the breeding season 

 may be delayed until April and May. 



Specimens examined/ — Forty-five, as follows : 



Bufo punciatus 



' Young. 



BUFO SIM US Schmidt 



Figure 14 



1858. Bufo simus Schmidt, Denkschr. Akad. Wiss. math.-naturw. Classe, Wien, 

 vol. 14, pt. 2, pp. 254, 255, pi. 3, fig. 22.— Gunther, 1901, Biologia Centrali- 

 Americana, Reptilia and Batrachia, pp. 254, 255, May.— Nieden, 1923, Das 

 Tierreich, Lief. 46, Amphibia, Anura I, pp. 74, 131. 



1858. Bufo intermedius Gunther, Catalogue of the Batrachia Salientia in the 

 collection of the British Museum, p. 140, pi. 9, fig. A.— GtJNTHER, 1901, 

 Biologia Centrali-Americana, Reptilia and Batrachia, p. 255, May. — 

 NiEDEN, 1923, Das Tierreich, Lief. 46, Amphibia, Anura I, pp. 75, 133. 



1879. Bufo occidentalis (MS. De Filippi) Camerano, Atti R. Accad. Sci. Torino, 

 vol. 14, p. 887 (Mexico). 



1879. Bufo monksiae Cope, Proc. Amer. Philos. Soc, vol. 18, no. 104, p. 263, 

 June 20 (Guanajuato, Mexico).— Nieden, 1923, Das Tierreich, Lief. 46, 

 Amphibia, Anura I, pp. 73, 110. 



Type locality. — Chiriqui Kiver in the vicinity of Bocas del Toro, 

 Panama. 



