304 



BULLETIN 34, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



The tibia is also shorter iu typical examples, in-easuriiif? oiil^' three 

 times the interorbital width. This measurement is i)artly due to the 

 iiiterorbital enlargement. The skin is less tubercular and the colors aie 

 paler. The form has an especial geographical range. But 1 find speci- 

 mens from different parts of the West which connect this form with the 

 true S. hammondii. Such are specimens collected by Br. Hayden in the 

 valley of the Great Colorado, in eastern Utah, and others obtained by 

 myself at Sante Fe, N. Mex. In some of the former the interorbital 

 width enters the length of the tibia three and a half times. 



The Spca stagnaUs is known as yet from young specimenssouly, which 

 have but recently passed their metamorphosis. The principal peculi- 

 arity which characterizes them is the minute size of the ostia pharyn- 

 gea of the Eustachian tubes. I suspect this to be a character of imuja- 

 tnrity, as I find a similar state of affairs iu some of the young speci- 

 mens of Scapkiopus coucliii in the collection. 



Spea hammondii inter montana Cope. 



Proceetl. Ac. Pbila., 1883, p. 14. 



1 took a specimen of this species within the limits of Salt Lake City, 

 and subsequently obtained three or four specimens from Pyramid Lake, 

 Nevada. The sides and much of the dorsal region are covered with rather 

 largo tubercles closely phiced. The frontoparietal bones, though ossi- 

 fied, are not roughened, as in the species of Scaphiopus. It is nearest 

 tlic tS. couchii (from near San Antonio, Tex.). In that species the vo- 

 merine teeth are entirel^^ posterior to the internal naresj iu this one 

 they are between the posterior borders of the same. The lips are not 

 cross barred, as in the B. couchii; and the superior region has two 

 pale lines on each side. In 8. couchii these lines are replaced by a 

 coarse marbling. As compared with the Spea hammondii, this frog 

 differs in its larger size, lighter colors, and the presence of the superior 

 pair of light lines. 



Fig. 70. Spea hammondii inter monlana. No. 1092G. Ft. Walla Walla ; \. 



It represents the 8. hammondi in more northern regions, and the com- 

 plete cranial ossification and larger size mark it as a more full}^ devel- 

 oped form. 



I found it associated with Bufo columhiensis iu a pond near the shore 

 of Pyramid Lake. Like other allied species, it was very noisy, almost 

 obscuring the voice of the less vociferous Bufo. 



