250 Illinois Stale Laboratory of Natural Historif. 



circular, exposing the tympanum. Frontal plate wider in front 

 and rounded. Parietals small. Inner series of superciliaries 

 composed of four plates. Prefrontals in contact for a short 

 distance at the middle line. Internasal large, hexagonal, wider 

 than long. Nasals large, touching at the middle line, the nos- 

 tril opening in their lower part. Rostral produced backward 

 and acutely angled between the nasals. Two loreals. Six 

 supralabials, the third largest. Five elongate, narrow infrala- 

 bials. 



Color above brownish gray, with three narrow yellow 

 longitudinal lines on each side with black spaces between them. 

 Head brown or blue-gray. Legs brown. Entire under parts 

 bluish white. 



Length of body to the vent, 2.25; tail beyond vent, 4.50. 



Local in its distribution and not common; probably occurs 

 in suitable localities throughout the State. Ottawa, Henry, 

 Cave in Rock ( ?). 



An exceedingly active lizard and consequently difficult of 

 capture. It occurs in dry sandy regions, where it may b3 seen 

 by roadsides among shrubbery, or running along the lower rails 

 of fences. It never resorts to trees, but trusts to its swiftness 

 and skill in dodging from one covert to another to escape its 

 pursuers. The only specimens the writer has collected in the 

 State were taken at Henry, in a dry sunny field on the banks of 

 the Illinois River. They were not rare in that particular local- 

 ity, but were not seen any where else, though the country round 

 about was scoured for miles. I think I saw an individual of 

 the species at Cave in Rock on the Ohio River during the sum- 

 mer of 1883, but it disappeared so completely and suddenly, 

 before I could get a fair glimpse of it, that I cannot be sure 

 about it. An example has recently been sent to me from 

 Ottawa. 



Family SCINCID^. 



Tongue very slightly notched at its tip, free in front, 

 with squamiform papilhc. Teeth pleurodeut. No gular or 

 lateral folds. Nostril generally in one plate. No femoral or 

 inguinal j)ores. Basal portion of scales ossified. PremaxilUb 

 double. Xiphisternal fontanel generally wanting. 



