TEXAN HERPETOLOGY 



none were observed in the other sections of the county. 



Lieolepisma laterale Say. Ground Lizard. 



Specimens of this slender little saurian were .collected in almost every locality 

 visited. They were especially abundant in Peter's Canyon. Toward dusk 

 one evening I caught ten or eleven that were stirred out of the rank water 

 grass growing alongside the creek. They attempted to escape by squirming up 

 the sides of the canyon but were easily captured. 



Eumeces brevilineatus Cope. Short-lined Skink. 



This interesting skink lizard is not uncommon and inhabits open woods as 

 well as the more secluded canyons in the hills. In 1902 I saw a number of 

 specimens but only succeeded in capturing one. In 1906 I made a special 

 effort to collect a series and was successful in obtaining eight examples, five 

 adults and three young. Its habits are similar to those of Leiolepisma and I 

 usually found them associated together in the same localities. At the White 

 Eagle Copper Mine I collected both species under the same log in several in- 

 stances. The average length of five adult specimens is 60 mm. (muzzle to 

 vent). The total length of an adult with perfect tail is 172 mm. 



The adult specimen is plumbeous above, light olive below. Tail colored 

 like the body. A light band extends along the upper lip to a short distance 

 behind the axilla, and another from the end of the muzzle over the eye to the 

 corresponding point on the side, separated by two longitudinal rows of scales. 

 In the adult these bands are either white or light cream color. 



Young examples are similar to adults in markings but not in color. The 

 upper surfaces vary from plumbeous to brownish olive, the light bands are buff 

 and the tail is bright ultramarine blue. In hunting among dead leaves for 

 these lizards, it is comparatively easy to keep track of young specimens on ac- 

 count of the color of the tail which renders them very conspicuous, but in the 

 case of the adults it is quite different as their more uniform colors harmonize 

 well with their surroundings. Their movements are wonderfully active and 

 on this account, their capture is not an easy task. Their tails are as easily 

 broken as those of Leiolepisma and the least rough usage will cause their scales 

 to slip in patches. Specimens of this skink are still rare in collections and our 

 knowledge of its distribution is very limited. It does not appear to be found 

 outside of Texas. Cope records specimens from two localities, i. e. Helotes, 

 Bexar County and Fort Concho, Tom Green County. Vernon Bailey men- 

 tions a single specimen collected at Paisano, Brewster County, by William 

 Lloyd. It doubtless occurs in all of the hill and mountain counties of the 

 west-central and western parts of the State, but it is a species that is likely to 

 be overlooked by any person who is not devoting his whole energies to reptile 

 collecting. The collecting of my small series necessitated the turning over of 

 scores of logs and large stones, and the tearing up of every mass of decaying 

 wood and accumulation of dead leaves along my route. Probably 75 per cent 



