Occasional Papers of the Museum of Zoology 27 



well defined on the head and body, the upper pair extending 

 upon the base of the tail. The lower stripes are dull white,, 

 the upper brownish white and in one specimen dull reddish 

 brown on the base of the tail. The upper stripes vary slightly 

 in width, cover the adjacent two-thirds or three-fourths of the 

 second and third scale rows from the median dorsal line and 

 are bordered above with black. The ground color between the 

 upper and lower stripes is black in two specimens, dark brown 

 in one, and dark brown spotted with black in another. Be- 

 tween the upper stripes, the ground color is greenish or. brown- 

 ish olive and in three specimens is interrupted by dark brown 

 or blackish stripes extending from the head upon the base of 

 the tail. In one specimen the dark dorsal stripes are absent, 

 in another they are indicated by small black spots. The ground 

 color of the tail is greenish blue or pale yellowish olive at the 

 base, and bright blue on the distal part. The belly is pale 

 greenish or bluish slate, the chin, throat and median portion of 

 tail dull yellowish white in three specimens. In two specimens 

 the chin and throat are pale reddish orange, and in one of 

 these the under surface of the tail is pale reddish. There are 

 26 scale rows in four specimens, and in the fifth an extra row 

 is present on each side for a short distance behind the four 

 limbs, making 28. The frontal is in contact with the azygos 

 prefontal in four specimens and widely separated in one. 



It will be noted that these specimens are typical B. skil- 

 tonianiis and do not resemble £. gilbcrii \'^an Denburgh in any 

 of the characters which are given as distinctive of that form. 

 The habits are, on the other hand, those of the latter species, 

 as described by A"an Denburgh. A"an Denburgh^" says of E. 

 gilbert i, "common in the mountains near Yosemite Valley. 

 * * * * It is often seen in grass and among roots, retreating" 



'"Occ. Papers Cal. Acad. Sci., V. 



