92 3. IGUANID^ 



fremontiiy Le-ptosyne blgelovn, Amsinckia tessellata, Lotus, 

 Sfhceralcea fnunroana, and Efhedra viridis." 



Mr. Camp gives some interesting notes as follows: 

 "This clumsy, vegetarian lizard is common on the rocky 

 slopes o£ the Turtle Mountains and may occasionally be 

 seen in the patches of scoria out from the base of the range. 

 It was never noticed elsewhere, and having rather feeble 

 powers of locomotion, doubtless depends upon the security 

 of the rocks to a greater extent than do swifter lizards. It 

 lacks the curiosity of smaller species and loses no time in 

 slipping to safety at the approach of danger. 



"Chuckwallas were seen perching on rocks so hot as to 

 be unbearable to the hand, and big, gorgeously colored 

 males were noted in pursuit of each other over hillsides 

 in the middle of the hottest July days. In the latter part 

 of June one pair, male and female, were seen near one 

 another. 



"The chuckwalla has a curious habit of sticking out the 

 fleshy tongue at every few steps when walking along. Like 

 toads and Phrynosoma, Sauromalus can be made to assume 

 a rigid hypnotic posture by gentle rubbing on the belly. 

 In this condition an individual may remain half an hour 

 without moving. 



"The half-eaten body of a large female was picked up 

 near a nest containing two young prairie falcons. When 

 attacked in its retreats, the chuckwalla inflates itself and 

 lashes the heavy stub-tail about vigorously. Aside from 

 this it appears to be utterly innocuous, and the writer has 

 never known one to attempt to bite even when handled 

 roughly. Mr. Dane Coolidge states that the desert In- 

 dians, to whom the chuckwallas are a delicacy, puncture the 

 lizards' sides with sharpened wire in order to deflate them 

 and then draw them from their retreats among the rocks. 



"Old chuckwallas often have scars on the back caused 



