12. SCELOPORUS 293 



or yellowish white stripe along each side of the back from 

 the neck to the base of the tail. This light stripe varies in 

 width, being usually about the width of one or two scales 

 and is separated from the corresponding stripe on the oppo- 

 site side of the body by about five to seven rows of dorsal 

 scales. This dorsal area usually shows on each side a series 

 of ill-defined dark brown spots or undulate blotches which 

 do not cross the back but usually have an unmarked, longi- 

 tudinal, middorsal zone. This middorsal zone may appear 

 as a light band, two or three scales wide, bordered on each 

 side by a dark brown longitudinal band of similar width 

 adjoining the the light dorso-lateral stripe. On the sides, 

 below the dorsolateral light stripe, a second light stripe, 

 about one or two scales wide, runs from the ear to the hind 

 Jeg, passing just above the arm. The sides, between these 

 upper and lower light stripes, usually are dark brown. The 

 upper surface of the head is yellowish or grayish brown or 

 olive, unicolor or with dark brown dots and lines. A dark 

 line usually runs from the eye to the ear, and in many speci- 

 mens similar dark lines may be seen between the nostril and 

 eye, the corner of the mouth and the ear, and on the neck 

 behind the supraocular region. The upper surfaces of the 

 limbs are brown, olive or yellowish gray, usually without 

 definite markings, but sometimes more or less dotted 01 

 cross-barred with dark brown. The tail proximally is col- 

 ored like the back, but distally is nearly unicolor. The 

 lower surfaces are yellowish white, sometimes more or less 

 suffused or dotted with gray, slate or black. There is a 

 bright blue patch on each side of the throat, and an elon- 

 gate blue blotch on each side of the belly. These blue 

 markings may be edged with black in males. In females 

 they occasionally are indistinct or absent. 



