548 



REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1898. 



hidden iu tlie thick flusters of dead leaves, from which it was very difficult to dis- 

 lodge them. Wheu tirst exposed to the light, they were dark colored, and seemed 

 dazzled for a inoinent, during which they made no attempt to escape. They were 

 not at all sluggish, however, and if not caught immediately, made for the nearest 

 cover as fa.«t as their very short legs would permit. This cover was often the col- 

 lector, and the little lizards either hid under his shoes or climbed his legs, sometimes 

 even reaching his shoulders. They showed no desire to enter the numerous holes iu 

 the ground about them, or to escape by burrowiug. Put into a glass bottle they 

 became very light colored in a few minutes, but began to turn dark again immedi- 

 ately after sundown. Young specimens wc^re numerous, and remained dark longer 

 than adults. Many fragments of cast skins were found, but never a whole skin in 

 one place. The stomachs of several individuals contained the wings of some small 

 dipterous insect, the elytra of a little brown beetle, and some very small white 

 bodies which resembled spiders' eggs. 



Several specimens were taken alive to the Leland Stanford Junior University and 

 kept for some months in a large glass jar in which some fine sand and pieces of wood 

 and bark had been placed. At first they ventured out from their retreat only at 

 dusk unless disturbed, but after a few days they seemed to become more restless, 

 and, urged perhaps by hunger, showed themselves many times each day. At night, 

 when they were always more active, they often climbed to the top of a piece of 

 yucca stem placed upright in the middle of their cage. No desire to burrow was 

 observed. All declined to show any intei'est in the small beetles aud dies, both 

 dead aud living, which were placed iu the jar, and finally became greatly emaciated. 

 They were chloroformed in March, 1894. 



A second note dated Mojave, California, September 17-18, 1894, is as 



follows : 



As it was not practicable to learn by actual investigation whether or not A", rigilis 

 hid, during the day, among the thick-growing leaves of the living yuccas, the localities 

 examined in 1893, still clearly marked by the displaced rubbish, were again searched 

 with great care. The fact that very few specimens were now secured in this previ- 

 ously worked area, while the species was very common just outside its limits, is evi- 

 dence that the speciuiens found on the ground under the dead branches were in their 

 true diurnal home, and not mere stragglers from the living yuccas. 



The speciuiens were all caught alive and put into a large glass bottle, but were 

 soon killed by the heat, although care was taken to keep them iu the shade as nuxch 

 as possible. Count was kept as the lizards were put in the l)ottle, ;ind showed later 

 that several more were taken out than were put in. This may have Iteen due to a 

 mistake in the record, but was more probably caused by the birth of young after 

 capture. The adults were afterwards carefully examined, and three were found to 

 contain young, showing that the species is ovoviparous. One of the three contained 

 two fetuses; the others have one each. These fetal sjiecimeus are about the size 

 of the young found under the dead branches. 



Xantuaia viqilis Baird. 



