'42 SCINCUS q,UINQ.UELINEATUS. 



Habits. The Scincus quinquelineatus lives on insects, and is found in our 

 forests, choosing for its residence holes in the stumps of old and decaying trees, 

 or such as have fallen to the earth. Although it chmbs readily enough, it is 

 almost always found on the ground, and I have never yet seen its abode at any 

 great elevation. 



Geographical Distribution. The Scincus quinquelineatus is found in the 

 Atlantic states, according to Dr. Pickering, from lat. 35° to the Gulf of Mexico; 

 its western range cannot now be determined, but it is certainly extensive, as Say 

 observed it at Engineer cantonment, on the Missouri river; Dr. Pickering saw it 

 in Ohio; and I have received specimens from Mississippi and Louisiana. 



General Remarks. Linnaeus gave the first account of this animal in the twelfth 

 edition of the Systema Naturae, from an individual sent him by Dr. Garden, of 

 Charleston. The description is on the whole good, but was evidently taken from 

 a specimen preserved in alcohol, which had changed the red colour of the head, 

 as no mention is made of it. 



Latreille and Daudin, though they describe this animal under the specific name 

 of "quinquelineatus," again reproduce it under that of "tristatus;" the former 

 arranging it among the lizards, the latter more properly with the skinks; both, 

 however, describe it from specimens sent them by Bosc. That these specimens 

 were preserved in alcohol, is evident, as no notice is taken of the red head; and 

 that they were adult animals, is equally certain, as no mention is made of the lines 

 about the head, or of the vertebral line, which all become nearly obsolete in old 

 age. The Scincus tristatus of Daudin cannot be meant for the Scincus fasciatus, 

 for in that the six lines about the head always exist; nor for the Scincus erythro- 

 cephalus, as his description of the plates under the tail might lead one to suppose, 

 for in the latter animal the head is always red, and the longitudinal lines along 

 the body are always wanting. 



There can be little doubt that Garden himself, who had the best opportunity of 



