RANDOM NOTES ON NATURAL HISTORY. 



13 



getting into all manner of forbidden places, 

 much to the disgust of madame. I was 

 obliged to let him go. 



There are probabl}- four young to a litter. 



His length from nose to tail is G to G^in. ; 

 tail 4 to 4^ in. ; chin and all under parts 

 white ; nose light tan with a narrow, me- 

 dium, dark-brown line, two linos each of tan 

 and dark-brown from the nose, through the 

 eye, to the ear ; sides tan color, hairs gray at 

 roots, crown rufous mixed with black ; pos- 

 terior parts rufous brown ; dorsal stripe 

 black edged with rufous, with parallel stripes 

 on either side, first gray and brown mix, then 

 rufous brown, black, yellow -white, and 

 black again ; tail very narrow and mixed in 

 color, the hairs being colored in bands of 

 dark and light brown, two each. S. 



Reptiles and Batrachians of Rhode Island. 



BY HERMON C. BUMPUS. 



Number V. 



II. Order — Sauria. The actual occur- 

 rence of a single representative of this or- 

 der within the limits of Rhode Island has 

 yet to be recorded, though there can be 

 little doubt of the ultimate capture of at 

 least one or two species of forms so ex- 

 tremely abundant further soutii. 



Though the Lizards {Sauricms) , as has 

 been already said, pass so gradually into 

 the Ojihidians that definite lines of demarc- 

 ation can with difficulty be drawn, the fol- 

 lowing points will assist to separate the 

 closely-related orders : 



Tlie lizards have the bones of the head 

 well joined together ; the lower jaw is also 

 united in front, preventing that lateral ex- 

 tension so universal among the ophidians. 

 As a rule lizards are provided with eyelids, 

 and the ear opens direct, i. e., is not covered 

 by the skin of the head. The most import- 

 ant characteristic, however, is the posses- 

 sion of limbs, though in some forms they 

 are extremely rudimentary. 



As regards the two lizards possibly in- 

 habiting the state : 



(L) Eumeces fasciatvs Linn. {Ples- 

 tiodon fasciatus D. & B., J. A. Allen's 

 Report), or the Blue-Tailed Lizard, is 

 about seven inches long. The head and 

 body of a deep bluish black above, and 



white below. Running from the anterior 

 part of the head are six yellow stripes, the 

 two dorsal of which unite at the occiput, 

 the one thus formed passing along the 

 middle of the back to the tail, where it 

 changes to a beautiful blue color. The 

 other four stripes change in the same man- 

 ner, after having gone the length of the 

 bod}' parallel witli tlie dorsal one. 



This harmless little animal, though ex- 

 tremely rare in New England, is very gener- 

 ally distributed east of the Mississippi, and 

 as far south as the Gulf of Mexico. In 

 early morning, while tearing the bark from 

 partially decayed trees, in Louisiana, I have 

 surprised them numb and inactive, though 

 later on in the day it was with difficulty 

 that a single specimen could be captured, 

 so lively would they become. 



(2.) Scelo2)orus iinclulatus Harlan. 

 {Tropidolepis tindulatus Holb.) The com- 

 mon names applied to this form, so abun- 

 dant throughout the central and southern 

 portions of the country, are amusing. The 

 " Brown Swift," indicative of the color and 

 the rapidity with which it scurries away on 

 being disturbed; the "Pine Lizard," be- 

 cause of its preference for pine woods, 

 often climbing to the tops of the highest 

 trees; "-Alligator Lizard," from a fancied 

 resemblance to that giant saurian ; but why 

 the harmless little animal should be called 

 a " Brown Scorpion," is beyond conjecture. 

 This lizard differs from the previous in hav- 

 ing the body much depressed, the scales of 

 the upper side strongly keeled, and in gen- 

 eral marking; the "Pine Lizard" having 

 the back marked transversely by dark brown 

 and black waving lines, and the abdomen 

 with longitudinal stripes and blotches. 



The two representatives of the order 

 Sauria thus treated are probably the only 

 forms that will be found to inhabit the state. 

 The first has been captured a few times in 

 Massachusetts, and the second in Connecti- 

 cut. There is no good reason, however, for 

 their not having been already recorded ; in 

 fact, the warm lowlands around Kingston 

 and Point Judith must offer extremely favor- 

 able conditions for these apparently rare 

 forms. If our museums and collectors 

 would turn their energy towards working 

 up the natural history of their own local- 

 ities, rather than with making fragmentary 

 displays of exotic faunae, their results would 

 be of much more practical value. 



