48 Trans. Acad. Sci. of St. Louis 
Ground lizards taken in Kansas have always been 
found in woods or very near to them. Some live among 
the rocks on wooded hillsides, usually near a stream, 
but more inhabit the damper, heavier woods. There ap- 
pears to be little doubt that a humid character of the 
surface soil favors the occurence of this species, and con- 
versely, that a lack of moisture in the surface soil re- 
stricts its distribution. The writer has often taken speci- 
mens by turning over hillside rocks in the spring. In the 
summer the ground lizard is seldom found under rocks, 
but oceurs then under the dead leaves and grasses of the 
woodlands, where its presence is often betrayed by a 
slight rustle. Attempts to capture these creatures often 
result in failure because of their wonderful agility and 
the extreme brittleness of their tails. In a few instances 
the writer has been able to secure a specimen by grasp- 
ing a handful of leaves in which the lizard had concealed 
itself, 
Very little has been recorded about the breeding hab- 
its of this diminutive lizard. Strecker (1908) found that 
‘‘The eggs of L. laterale are three or four in number, and 
are deposited under the bark of fallen trees, or in hollow 
logs. They measure about nine or ten millimeters in 
length.’’ The dissection of a specimen from Douglas 
County, Kansas, revealed the presence of six eggs in 
the oviducts. 
Distribution in Kansas.—As indicated by the map, L. 
laterale is generally distributed over the eastern third of 
Kansas. This area, characterized by streams with wood- 
ed banks, receives the greatest amount of the rainfall 
of Kansas as indicated by the report of the Weather 
Bureau, United States Department of Agriculture 
(1923). Dry and sandy areas do not yield this species, 
