26 University of Michigan 



Two specimens were found among the rocks on the eastern- 

 most ridge of the mountains bordering the flats. It was very 

 common among the sagebrush, salt bushes and Chrysothammis 

 bushes on the flats, by far the most abundant where the 

 Chrysothammis was dominant and the vegetation was thus 

 densest, and was less common in the more open places dom- 

 inated by the sagebrush and Atriple.v. In this habitat specimens 

 were decidedly inconspicuous, the light and dark markings re- 

 sembling the lights and shadows beneath the bushes. When 

 alarmed they take to flight, running swiftly with the tail ele- 

 vated from the ground, or dodge into a mammal burrow. All 

 but one of the stomachs examined contain spider and insect re- 

 mains exclusively, grasshoppers, beetles, larvae, pupae and 

 spiders being identifiable. One stomach of a lizard taken on 

 August 14 contains a young Cnemidophonis but recently 

 hatched. The females collected as late as July 13 still carried 

 their eggs, but those taken on August 8 had laid them, and, as 

 mentioned above, an adult brought in on August 14 had eaten 

 a young one but recently hatched. It is preyed upon by the 

 racer (Bascanion taeniatuni) a colony of which lived in the 

 habitat. 



It is difficult to explain the local distribution of this lizard, 

 which is paralleled by that of several other species in the region. 

 The same vegetation prevails over scores of square miles of 

 adjacent territory, and while the soil is finer than on the ridges 

 to the north, it is to all appearances the same as in the valley 

 of the Humboldt east of Carlin, and these areas are continuous. 



Bumeccs skiltomanus (Baird and Girard). 



Five specimens taken on the most northern of the Carlin 

 Peaks. 



The specimens measure 52 mm., 55^^ mm., 56^^ mm., 60 

 mm., and 64 mm. in length (snout to vent). The stripes are 



