20. PLESTIODON 581 



the tail. The lower traverses the upper labial plates, crosses 

 the ear-opening and continues along the side of the neck and 

 body to the hind limbs, often reappearing on the tail. The 

 ground color is usually darkest near the light lines. The 

 upper pair of the latter are separated by about two and two 

 half rows of scales. The limbs are olive, sometimes marked 

 with darker brown on the margins of the scales. The bands of 

 the back are continued for a varying distance on the tail, 

 which is elsewhere greenish, bluish, or grayish slate in adults, 

 bright cobalt blue in young. The lower surfaces are yellow- 

 ish white often clouded with blue or slate on the belly and 

 throat. 



In very old individuals the ground color becomes paler 

 and the lines widen and sometimes disappear and the head 

 becomes tinged with red. 



Length to anus 29 4-1 55 60 64 66 



Length of tail 40 69 105 117 113 120 



Snout to ear 7 8 11 11 12 12 



Snout to occipital plates 6 8 10 10 11 11 



Fore limb 7 10 15 14 16 15 



Hind limb 10 14 22 21 23 23 



Base of fifth to end of 



fourth toe 4698 99 



Distribution. The Western Skink, Skilton's Skink, or 

 Blue-tailed Lizard is more widely distributed on the Pacific 

 Coast than any other saurian. It probably ranges over the 

 entire coast from Lower California to British Columbia, and 

 has been found in some interior desert ranges. It seems to 

 avoid the lower drier portions of the Colorado and Mohave 

 deserts and San Joaquin Valley. 



In California, it has been found in San Diego (San 

 Diego, Chula Vista, Pine Mts. near Escondido, Chihuahua 

 Mountains, Cuyamaca Mountains, Witch Creek, Poway, 

 Campo, Jacumba Hot Springs), Orange (Laguna Beach), 



