78 HERPETOLOGY OF MICHIGAN. 



Description: Four well developed limbs. Body covered with 

 rather large, imbricated, smooth scales. Tongue flat, moderately 

 long, free, slightly notched in front, and covered with overlapping 

 scale-like papillae. Head with symmetrically arranged plates. 



The color of the blue-tailed skink varies greatly with age. The 

 color of medium sized individuals is, above dark olive with five 

 bluish or greenish white, or yellowish stripes (one median and 

 two lateral on either side) ; under surface pale ; tail usually bright 

 blue. Old specimens are reddish olive with the stripes obscure 

 (females) or wanting (males) and the head coppery red. Young 

 specimens are jet-black with bright yellow stripes. 



Eahits and HaMtat: This skink is distinctly diurnal, being most 

 active on warm, bright days in summer. Little is known of its 

 habitat preferences in Michigan, but in other regions it is usually 

 found in wooded areas, being seen frequently in piles of brush or 

 fallen logs. It is very agile, and, like most of the smaller lizards, 

 its tail breaks easily so that if seized by this appendage the animal 

 easily escapes by parting with the captured portion. The following 

 account of the habits of specimens observed in the sand region of 

 Huron County has been given by the wi-iter (Ruthven, 1911a, 263- 

 264). 



"In the Avoods of the sand region it was found on the dry ridges, 

 under and in decaying logs, where it fed on the insects that frequent 

 such situations. It was, however, much more common than elsewhere 

 under the drift logs on the fossil beaches, and also on the middle 

 beach on the present shore, at the extremity of Sand Point. The 

 logs strewTi along the fossil beaches were in an advanced stage of 

 decay, and usually consisted of an outer shell of better preserved 

 wood covering a mass of decomposed debris, the decomposition 

 taking place most rapidly next to the ground. This apparently 

 furnished a very favorable habitat for these lizards, great numbers 

 of which were found in the decomposed material when the outer 

 shell of the log had been removed. (PI. VIII.) 



"The eggs were laid in the same material, the female generally 

 scooping out a small hollow in the bottom of which the eggs were 

 partially buried in the debris. Both in the woods and on the 

 beaches nests were occasionally found in the sand beneath a log or 

 board where there was only a small amount of decaying wood, but 

 in every case there was at least a small amount. Females taken on 

 June 19 were pregnant, containing large eggs apparently nearly 

 ready to be laid. The first sets observed were on July 2, and on 

 and after this date nests of eggs were found in numbers. Every- 



