Coe and Kunkel— California Limbless Lizard. 351 
The length of the body of the adult from snout to cloacal open- 
ing varies commonly from 105™™ to 152™™". It is of nearly uniform 
size, with an average diameter of about 6.3"™". The length from 
cloacal opening to posterior end of these same animals, however, 
varies from 16 to 75"™. Therefore in extreme cases the length of 
the tail may vary from one ninth to more than one third the total 
length of the body. 
At the time of birth the young lizards are usually from 70 to so™™ 
im length. 
Anniella pulchra is widely distributed in central and southern 
California, where it prefers dry, barren localities and deserts. At 
Pacific Grove, California, it is common on the sand dunes of the sea- 
shore. Here it lives buried in the sand beneath small clusters of low 
bushes and under driftwood scattered about over the more sunny 
sand patches. A number of individuals are often found collected 
together beneath a small shrub or piece of driftwood on the sunny 
side of a sand dune, particularly where not exposed to the winds 
from the sea. Professor Heath of Stanford University writes that 
he has found them plentiful in just such situations. Van Denburgh 
(’97), on the other hand, states that they occur in the sand of pine 
forests in the same locality, and that they travel rapidly in the loose 
soil. 
They naturally lie buried in the sand with only the anterior por- 
tion of the head exposed, so that it is usually quite impossible to see 
them unless they are more fully exposed by a rake or a hoe. Early 
in the morning and on a cloudy day they appear to lie more deeply 
buried in the sand; when exposed to view they very quickly bury 
themselves in the loose soil, especially if the weather is not too 
chilly. They are naturally much more active on a warm day, but 
even then they are not so agile as the ordinary running lizards, 
At San Diego the species is said to be very common, and it is also 
reported from the central and eastern portions of the state, Fresno, 
Kern, and San Bernadino counties (Cope :00). We have also 
heard of its being seen, but not collected, at Yuma and in western 
Arizona. 
The lizards live well in captivity. Some thirty individuals which 
were collected at Pacific Grove, California, were kept in our labora- 
tory at New Haven, Connecticut, for several months. They were 
fed on the larve of the chestnut beetle (alanius) and on small 
larve of Elater beetles. The method by which these insects were 
devoured is curious and interesting. 
