8 COPEIA 



nervously when stung by an ant on the back or on 

 the leg, yet can swallow the insect alive and entire. 

 The lining of the esophagus and the stomach seems 

 to be peculiarly resistant. 



A common habit, seen in about twenty-five per 

 cent, of specimens, is that of wagging the tail when 

 irritated. Incidentally, this habit is quite general 

 among reptiles. Many non-venomous snakes vibrate 

 the tail when surprised. Often they are mistaken for 

 rattlesnakes, as the sound of a rapidly vibrating tail 

 in leaves or dead grass is not unlike the warning of 

 Crotalus. 



The male horned lizards sometimes fight each 

 other in hot weather, — if confined closely. This fight- 

 ing seems to be rather harmless, consisting mainly of 

 vigorous puffing and blowing. The writer once ob- 

 served a large male dragging around a smaller one 

 holding its tail in his mouth. 



Horned lizards, unlike other lizards, do not have 

 the power to break off the tail, when that member is 

 grasped. In fact, a convenient method of capture is 

 to seize the animal by its tail. 



The Texas form may at times greedily lap up 

 water, but seems to depend mainly on drops of dew 

 on the vegetation. This habit is shared by the other 

 members of the genus. 



In North-central Texas, the horned lizards dis- 

 appear with the first cold burst, which comes on usu- 

 ally between the middle of September and the first 

 of October. Occasional specimens, especially very 

 young forms, may be found as late as the first of 

 December; but the majority are gone for the winter, 

 after the first "norther" despite the many warm days 

 which may follow. 



W. M. WlNTON, 



Fort Worth, Texas. 



Edited by J. T. Nichols, American Museum of Natural History 

 PRICE FIVE CENTS 



