CROCODILIANS, LIZARDS, AND SNAKES. 269 



the buds aud flowers of i)limts, with the additiou sometiiiiuB of a few leaves. It ia 

 much prized bj" the Pauamint Indians as an article of food. A number were eaten 

 by members of our expedition, and the flesh was reported to be tender aud palatable. 



Specimeus were secured by the Death Valley expedition in the Pana- 

 miut Range, the Amargosa Canyon, on a lava knoll on the west side of 

 Pahrump Valley, California, and in the Lower Santa Clara Valley in 

 Utah. In the latter locality they are common both along the canyon of 

 the Lower Santa Clara and among the red sandstone cliffs near the 

 village of St. George, and are called " alligators " by the Mormons. Dr. 

 Fisher found them in considerable numbers in the Argus Eange, west 

 of Panamint Valley, and examined a number of stomachs, in which he 

 found the following plants (either howers or foliage, or both): Dalca 

 fremoiiUi, Leptosyne higelovii, Amsinckia tessellata, Lotusj jSphct'ralcea 

 mum'oaua, and Eiihedra viridis. 



CALLISAURUS Biainville. 



CaZZisflHrits Blainville, Nouvelles Ann. du Museum, IV, 1835, p. 286. — Dumkril 

 aud BiBRON, Erp. Gen., IV, 1837, p. 324.— Guay, Cat. Liz, Brit. Mus., 1845, 

 p. 226. — BocoURT, Miss. Sc. Mex., Rept., 1874, p. 158,— Boulenger, Cat. Liz. 

 Brit. Mus., II, 1885, p. 205. 



Homalosaurm Hallowell, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phi la., 18.52, l^. 179. 



A gular and lateral fold^ the sides of neck and throat wrinkled; 

 scales nearly even ; superciliary scales tectiform. Femoral pores pres- 

 ent, pierced in undivided scales; upper labial oblique; occii)ital large; 

 l)lates between orbital sjiaces; nostrils superior within the ends of the 

 canthus; no palatine teeth; cheek teeth conical; posterior only faintly 

 tricuspid; tongue very little free at end. 



This genus is represented by one rather variable species. Its habitat 

 is the Lower Californian and Sonoran districts. 



CALLISAURUS DRACONOIDES Biainville. 



Callisaurus draconoides Blainville, Nouv. Ann. du Mus., IV, 1835, p. 286, pi, 

 XXIV. — Gray, Cat. Liz. Brit. Mus., 1845, p. 227. — Dumeril aud Bibrox, 

 Erp, Gen., 4, 1837, p. 326. — Bocourt, Mission Sci. Mexique, 1874, p. 158, pi, 

 XVII bis, fig. 10. — BouLENOER, Cat. Liz. Brit. Mus., II, 1885, p. 206.— Cope, 

 Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., 1875, No. 1, p. 47.— A^an Denburgh, Proc. Cal. Acad. Sci., 

 189.5, p. 95. 



Homalosaiirus venlralis IIallowei-l, Proc. Phila. Acad. Nat. Sci., \1, Ottober, 

 1852, J). 179 ; Sitgreaves, Report, 1853, i>. 117, pi. iv. 



Callisaurus venlralis Baird, U. S. Mex. Bound. Surv., Reptiles, 1859, p. 8. — SiE.i- 

 NEGER, N. Amer. Fauna, No. 7, Pt. 2, p. 171. — Van DENBTRciii. Proc Cal. Acad. 

 Sci., 1895, p. 97. 



Hind feet half as long as head and body; free portion of longest 

 hind toe nearly twice the cephalic plates; femoral i)ores 14 or 15. 



Above and on sides light greenish gray or ash, thickly marked with 

 rounded lighter spots, beneath yellowish white. On rump ten series of 

 blotches, which continued on tail become rings, which are intensely black 

 below; sides of belly blue, with ten oblique elongated indigo-black 

 blotches, the posterior largest aud two-branched, the posterior directed 



