NATURE STUDIES IN SMALL AREAS 



275 



a fine point. Upon picking the fellow up and holding it 

 in your hand, the discovery is very soon made that it is 

 extremely slippery and sticky a condition due to its 

 exuding from its skin a subtransparent mucus that is 

 wonderfully adhesive and disagreeable. It is due to this 

 that the animal has received its common as well as its 

 scientific name; and should the reader ever lay hands 

 on one of these pretty little batrachians in the woods, it 

 will never be questioned that it deserves these suggestive 

 names. They are mostly found, in this section of the 

 country, where the land is somewhat rolling and wooded 

 by big trees, as pines, poplars, chestnuts, and oaks. Gen- 

 erally they live under some good-sized, decayed log that 

 has been rain-soaked by many a storm. Such a log should 

 be turned over quickly if possible, unaided by the right 

 hand as that will be instantly needed should one of 

 these most agile little fellows be present in his chosen 

 abode. When 

 thus exposed, it 

 looks very pret- 

 ty indeed, even 

 to a person 

 who is not a 

 naturalist, for 

 its shiny body 

 is as black as 

 coal, being 

 more or less 

 sp e ck 1 ed all 

 over with the 

 very finest of 

 silvery specks, 

 and these are 

 well shown in 

 the accompany- 

 ing cut. On its 

 under side the 

 Slimj Salaman- 

 der is of a dull 

 lead-color, and 

 here, too, it is 

 speckled with 

 fine little white specks, though less abundantly so. Its 

 tail is round, and this character distinguishes it from 

 other salamanders sometimes found in these southern 

 woods. Its neck is moderately constricted, while its eyes, 

 though not very large, are very prominent, as if bulging 

 from its head from fright. By habit it is not an aquatic 

 form and indeed, when placed in a few inches of water, 

 it immediately makes rather desperate efforts to get out 

 of it. Most aquatic forms of salamanders have tails 

 that are transversely flattened ; they will eat small angling 

 worms and the like, coming out of their retreats at night 

 to find them sometimes even during showers or cloudy 

 weather. In a proper kind of vivarium these salamanders 

 may be bred in captivity, as is the case with others of the 

 species, and it is a very interesting task to rear them. 

 Some of them are very handsome creatures, especially the 

 Red and the Cave salamanders; as a matter of fact, the 



Fig. 3. 

 Fig. 1. 



formation. All natural size, from life. 



Tiger, the Spotted, and the Marbled salamanders are 

 each and all very beautifully marked. 



Speaking of the agility of the Slimy salamander, it is 

 safe to say that it is quite snail-like when compared with 

 at least one of the lizards, namely, the Red-headed 

 lizard, famous in the southern part of its range under 

 the name of "Scorpion" (Plestiodon fasciatus, Fig. 8). 

 This species has, as in the case of others noted above, a 

 wide range all over the eastern part of the United States. 

 In fact, this most interesting lizard occurs from northern 

 Connecticut, where it is rare, southward through Florida 

 and westward beyond the Valley of the Mississippi and 

 western Texas. It is a typical representative of the so- 

 called "Skinks" or Smooth-scaled lizards constituting the 

 family Scincida, the species of which are of no great size 

 and are noted for their wonderfully glossy and smooth 

 scales. There appears to be two genera of them repre- 

 sented in North 

 America, con- 

 taining over a 

 dozen species. 

 They are far 

 more plentiful 

 in the Old 

 World, while 

 A us t r alia is 

 abundantly 

 supplied with 

 them. 



"Like the 

 Anguida," says 

 Ditmars, "the 

 Skinks present 

 in t e r es ting 

 phases of evo- 

 lution. Most of 

 the species 

 have short 

 limbs, but are 

 agile runners ; 

 others are 

 serpent-like in 

 body, and have extremely minute limbs with which they 

 drag the body when progressing leisurely, but in time of 

 danger fold them against the sides and glide away like 

 a snake. Some have a minute pair of forelimbs only, 

 and a few have but a pair of useless hind limbs. A num- 

 ber are limbless and snake-like." 



All of our species of Plestiodon have their fore and 

 hind limbs well developed and functional to a wonderful 

 degree, for their agility is something truly marvelous. The 

 species here under consideration is known by quite an 

 array of common names, which is due to the fact that the 

 species exhibits two very different patterns of coloration 

 in passing from the immature to the adult stage of life. 

 In fact, in so far as coloration goes, one would never 

 suspect a young "Five-lined Skink" and an adult one of 

 being the same species. When fully grown it may attain 

 a length of over nine inches very rarely more; and 



FOUND UNDER THE BARK 



Five living specimens of insects found under the bark of one of the dead oaks shown in 

 The large whitish larva was found under a log; was taken home, and now awaits trans- 



