﻿+ 14 3. IGUANID.E 



about lV% inches across and an inch in depth and there was 

 just enough dirt between to keep them from being in con- 

 tact with each other. Another nest discovered at Gurley, 

 Falls County, in the month of April, 1907, was quite dif- 

 ferent. The eggs were merely deposited in a small hollow, 

 under cover of an old railroad tie, and had little or no dirt 

 to keep them separated. A number of these lizards breed 

 in our athletic field each year, and from the 1st of August 

 to the middle of September young specimens just out of the 

 egg are exceedingly abundant." 



"P. cornutum is the only species whose habits I have had 

 an opportunity to study thoroughly, and since the publica- 

 tion of my brief notes on this lizard I have received letters 

 from a number of naturalists who express their surprise to 

 learn of its egg-laying habit. The two sets of eggs men- 

 tioned in my notes were described simply to show the dif- 

 ference in the habits of the animal under different circum- 

 stances. In both cases the nests were discovered while the 

 females were at work. These sets were merely two out of 

 the dozen or more that have passed through my hands, and 

 in every instance but one the eggs were twenty-four in num- 

 ber. A female, together with her eggs, had been preserved 

 in the University collection for a number of years. The 

 collector, a Baptist minister, informs me that when he first 

 discovered the nest, the lizard was in the act of depositing 

 the eggs and paid no attention to him, although he watched 

 her for several minutes. He then left, and on his return 

 an hour later, found her at work filling up the hole. 



"The usual site selected for the nesting burrow is the 

 base of a slanting bank of earth or sand. The hole seldom 

 goes straight down, but is usually dug at an angle of about 

 45 degrees. The animal's fore-feet are used in digging, 

 while the hind-feet assist in pushing the earth out of the 

 burrow. As soon as one layer of eggs has been deposited 



