10. VTA 215 



seems to be lying lengthwise on a twig of a mesquite or 

 similar shrub. In such situations they are very easily over- 

 looked. 



Mr. Camp has published some interesting notes on the 

 habits of this species. "A number of long-tailed swifts 

 were seen in the vicinity of Blythe Junction. Some were in 

 creosote bushes on the open desert some in squaw-tea on the 

 sand dunes, and some on the branches of smoke trees in the 

 washes. They like to sun themselves on the topmost twig 

 of a bush, hanging motionless and head downwards as 

 though pinned there by a shrike. If disturbed they drop to 

 the middle of the bush and flatten themselves against a limb 

 lengthwise, keeping on the side away from the intruder, 

 their wiry tails stretched out stiffly in line with the body. 

 When alarmed while on the ground they make for the 

 nearest bush and jump into it, there to dodge actively about 

 among the branches, quite unlike their brown-shouldered 

 relatives, which usually retreat beneath stones or into holes 

 when pursued. The species under discussion appears to be 

 active at least till dark in the evening, and early in the 

 morning, as well as in the middle of the day. 



"A pair was seen copulating on July 1 3, in the hottest 

 time of the day. The two lizards were clinging to the in- 

 clined branch of a creosote bush and the female was colored 

 for the occasion, being light orange with two longitudal 

 black stripes down the sides and a row of black lozenges 

 down the center of the back. The male was grayish over 

 the back and yellowish on the sides. The power of color 

 change in these lizards is greater and more rapid than in 

 any other Californian reptile. A nearly white male held in 

 my hand changed rapidly in two or three minutes to yellow- 

 ifh black with cross bands on the back, the originally light 

 greenish ventral patches became blue, and a yellow spot ap- 

 peared under the throat. 



