114 CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 



short limbs and long tail. Head pointed, with flattened 

 top and nearly vertical sides; its temporal regions some- 

 what swollen. Large rostral plate rounded in upper 

 outline. Behind it, on top of head, follow a pair of 

 small internasals, a pair of small frontonasals, a large 

 azygous prefrontal, a pair of large prefrontals, a long 

 frontal, a pair of frontoparietals, two parietals separated 

 by an interparietal, and a pair of occipitals with one or 

 more interoccipitals between them. Two series (of 5 

 and 3) supraoculars and one series of small supercil- 

 iaries. All temporal scales keeled. Upper labials much 

 larger than lower. Below latter, two series of sublabial 

 plates, interior larger. Gular scales imbricate and 

 smooth. Scales on upper surfaces and sides of neck^ 

 body, and tail large, rhomboidal, slightly oblique^ 

 strongly keeled, reinforced with bony plates, and ar- 

 ranged in both longitudinal and transverse series. 

 Number of longitudinal series on body sixteen. Num- 

 ber of transverse rows between interoccipital plate and 

 backs of thighs varying from forty-two to forty-nine in 

 specimens examined. A band of granules along each 

 side from large ear-opening to anus, usually hidden by 

 a strong dermal fold. Ventral plates about size of dor- 

 sals, smooth, imbricate, and arranged in twelve (or 13) 

 longitudinal series. Number of scales from symphyseal 

 plate to anus fifty-nine to sixty-two. 



The ground color above is olive-brown or bluish or 

 greenish drab, usually a little paler laterally than near 

 the middle of the back. There are no definite cross- 

 bands, the dark pigments appearing in ill-defined mar- 

 blings or blotches on the back, or in white-tipped black 

 spots on the sides. The head and limbs are usually 

 unicolor, but may be marked with darker brown. The 

 lower surfaces are yellowish or greenish white, some- 



