HERPETOLOGY OF LOWER CALIFORNIA. lOI 



One of the brightest individuals, which has been in alco- 

 hol little more than a month, may be described thus: 

 On the anterior half of the back are three transverse 

 bands of intense black, bordered posteriorly by others of 

 olivaceous yellow. The first of these bars connects the 

 shoulders. The second is the shortest and narrowest. 

 Near its anterior edge are two round yellow spots, about 

 half the size of the tympanum. The third is the largest 

 and best defined. It is bordered in front by a narrow 

 band of plumbeous, which separates it from another of 

 olivaceous yellow. The remaining space between these 

 black bands is finely dotted and reticulated with black, 

 sepia, and azure. The posterior half of the back is sim- 

 ilarly banded, but the colors are here so dull as to appear 

 as if viewed through a thick and discolored epidermis. 

 In front of each shoulder is an azure spot about the size 

 of the tympanum. Half-way between the upper edges of 

 these spots and the tympana are smaller spots of the same 

 color, and others may be seen on the dorsal median line 

 of the neck. The chin and gular regions, except a large 

 central patch of greenish olive (pale turquoise blue in 

 some specimens), are Indian yellow, which color is con- 

 tinued over the sides, and faintly over the back of the 

 neck, just in front of the first black dorsal band. The 

 eyelids and a small area surrounding the pineal "eye" 

 are also yellow. The hind limbs are pale sepia, with in- 

 dications of seven faint yellowish crossbars. The upper 

 surface of the tail is bluish, greenish, and brownish, 

 crossed by twenty-one broad dark olive or greenish olive 

 bars. The lower surfaces of the tail, limbs, abdomen, 

 and chest, are creamy white, tinged on the chest with 

 olive -green and Indian yellow. (In very young individ- 

 uals there are three transverse greenish bars on a yellow 

 ground.) In the pouches at each end of the middle gu- 



