124 3. IGUANIDJE 



Lagoon, San Quentin, San Tomas, Las Palmas, Yubay, La 

 Paz, and on Magdalena and Cerros islands. 



It has been taken in northwestern Sonora, and on Ti- 

 buron Island in the Gulf of California. 



Habits. The Leopard Lizard usually is found on 

 desert plains, where it sometimes is quite common. It usu- 

 ally moves rather slowly and is not very easily alarmed. It 

 is, however, capable of great speed. I believe that it, at 

 times, runs on the hind feet alone, but this observation may 

 need confirmation. 



Its food may consist at times chiefly of blossoms and 

 leaves of plants, as stated by Dr. C. Hart Merriam (N. 

 Amer. Fauna, No. 7, 1893, p. 168), but other observers 

 have found the carnivorous diet to be the rule. Merriam 

 stated that it devours large numbers of insects and lizards 

 in addition to its vegetable diet. Among insects eaten, 

 grasshoppers, robber-flies and beetles are mentioned by 

 Ruthven. Lizards upon which it preys include Sceloporus 

 magister y Sceloporus graciosus, Uta stansbwriana y Crota'phy- 

 tus wislizenii, Cnemid,o / phorus tessellatus tessellatus y Cnemi- 

 dophorus melanostethus y CalUsaurus ventralis, and even a 

 species of Phrynosoma. It is a ferocious cannibal. 



Taylor states: "When handled the animals make a 

 hissing sound and vigorously attempt to bite. One uttered 

 a low moaning sound. While at rest they keep the head 

 raised from the ground and watch the intruder, but when 

 in motion lower it. One was seen running into a bush after 

 a cicada, which it apparently failed to secure. Next it 

 crawled slowly along, occasionally protruding its tongue. 

 When a fly buzzed about the bush and alighted on the 

 ground some two and a half feet away it raised its head 

 and started a little as if it recognized the sound. Then it 

 crawled slowly up toward the fly and as the insect left the 



