The Family X^ntusiidse 



Eye large. Blackish brown, irregularly marbled with 

 cream-coloured lines. 



HENSHAw's LIZARD, X. heushawi. 

 Distribution. — San Diego County, California. 

 II. Limbs proportionately longer. 



Eye large. Pale brown ; two rows of large, pale-edged 

 brown spots. cope's lizard, A', picia. 



Distribution. — One specimen known; from southern 

 California. 

 c. Length about 7 inches. 



Eye large. Gray or brown, dotted with black. 



rivers' lizard, X. riversiana. 

 Distribution. — Santa Barbara Island, coast of Cal- 

 ifornia. 



Mr. John J. Van Denburgh has added valuable information 

 to the previous scanty descriptions of these lizards and their 

 habits. In the following detailed list, the writer has drawn 

 freely from Mr. Van Denburgh's paper on the genus.* 



Xantus's Lizard, Xantusia vigilis, Baird. This is the 

 smallest species. Together with the three succeeding species, it 

 shows a single row of small plates directly over the eye. The 

 remaining species, X. riversiana, has two rows of these scales. 



The plates of the abdomen are in twelve (longitudinal) series. 



Colouration. — "The ground colour on different specimens 

 varies from smoke gray, through many shades of yellow and 

 brown, to clove brown. Scattered granules are brown or black. 

 At times these dark granules are so numerous as to become con- 

 fluent with a tendency to form longitudinal lines. In other 

 individuals they are scarcely visible. ... A yellowish line 

 usually runs back on the neck from the outer edges of each occipital 

 plate. Two similar lines are sometimes present on the nape. 

 The lower parts are creamy white, sometimes clouded with brown 

 toward the sides. The young average much darker than the 

 adults." (Van Denburgh.) 



Dimensions. — Total Length 3J inches. 



Length of Tail 1 1 



Length of Hind Limb f 



" " Front " t4 " 



Distribution. — Concerning the distribution, Mr. Van Den- 

 burgh has explained fully, thus: "The first representatives of 



* Proc. Cal. Acad. Sci., Ser. 2, Vol. X. 



179 



