146 CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 



bluish, or grayish slate in adults, bright cobalt blue in 

 young. The lower surfaces are yellowish white, often 

 clouded with blue or slate on the belly and throat. 



In very old specimens the ground color becomes paler 

 and the lines widen and sometimes almost disappear. 



Length to anus 29 



Length of tail 40 



Snout to ear 7 



Snout to occipital plates 6 



Fore limb 7 



Hind limb 10 



Base of fifth to end of fourth toe 4 



Distribution. The Western Skink, Skilton's Skink, 

 or Blue-tailed Lizard, is more widely distributed in Cali- 

 fornia than any other saurian. It probably ranges 

 over the entire State, except the lower, dryer portions of 

 the Colorado and Mojave Deserts and San Joaquin Val- 

 ley. It has been found in San Diego (San Diego, Cuy- 

 amaca Mountains), Riverside (San Jacinto), Los Angeles 

 (Los Angeles), San Bernardino (Mojave River), Santa 

 Barbara (Santa Barbara), Inyo (Argus and Panamint 

 Mountains), Kern (Fort Tejon, Kern River), Tulare 

 (White River, Trout Meadows), Fresno (Fresno), El 

 Dorado, Placer (Red Point), Shasta (Pitt River, Baird), 

 Siskiyou (Fort Jones), Lake (Kelseyville), Sonoma 

 (Healdsburg), Napa (Napa), Marin (Larkspur), Alame- 

 da (Berkeley, Oakland), San Mateo (Pescadero), Santa 

 Clara (Palo Alto, College Park, Mountain View, Black 

 Mountain, Alum Rock Canon, Smith Creek, Mt. Hamil- 

 ton, Los Gatos), Santa'Cruz (Big Basin, Boulder Creek, 

 Corralitos), and Monterey (Monterey) Counties, Cali- 

 fornia. 



This species lives also in western Oregon (Willamette 

 Valley), and probably will be found in Washington. 



Habits. This lizard seems to be most abundant in 



