The Horned Lizards 



along the edge of the body. (4) Whether the scales of the ab- 

 domen are smooth or keeled. (5) The arrangement (if any) 

 of enlarged scales upon the chin. This latter character is a 

 valuable one. 



Habits. Unlike the vast majority of lizards, the Horned 

 "Toads" are viviparous producing living young and to the 

 number of from six to a dozen. The young are born in the same 

 fashion as the viviparous snakes. They are encased in a trans- 

 parent envelope through which they soon break. They are at 

 once active and fully able to care for themselves. At birth they 

 possess rudimentary horns and do not exhibit the rough, spiny 

 appearance of the parent. In an illustration accompany- 

 ing this chapter the size of the newly born young may be com- 

 pared to that of the parent. 



The Horned Lizards are creatures of hot and dry, sandy 

 or sub-arid situations. Many of the species inhabit the deserts 

 proper where the sun, beating without obstruction upon ground 

 destitute of moisture, produces a heat practically unendurable to 

 the human. In these burning, silent and desolate wastes of the 

 Southwest, the little waifs of the sand dart here and there with 

 wonderful rapidity, subsisting entirely upon insect life. It is 

 during that part of the day when the sun is at its highest that 

 they display the most vivacity. Long before the sunset, while 

 the heat waves yet quiver upward from the bleached soil, they 

 prepare themselves for the night. This is a curious process. 

 The little creature imbeds its nose in the sand like the blade 

 of a plow, when it quickly works its way forward a few inches, 

 scooping vigorously with the head in order to produce a furrow. 

 Thus having worked its way a little distance into the sand it flattens 

 the body and employing the sharp, spiny borders of its sides 

 in shovel-like fashion, digs its way deeper and casts the sand 

 over its back. The head is again employed, then the sides again 

 and finally the queer little reptile is entirely covered. Some- 

 times it digs its way some two or three inches beneath the sur- 

 face. At other times and more frequently the back is covered 

 but the top of the head is visible and just level with the surface 

 of the sand. 



In several ways these reptiles are so toad-like that the original 

 and popular name may be readily appreciated. The method 

 of eating is much like that of the toad, a condition strengthened 



144 



