178 NORTH AMERICAN FAUNA. [Ifo.7. 



Sceloporus magister (Hallow.). (PL I, fig. 2.). 



The curious fate of Sceloporus marmoratus, or variabilis, in herpet- 

 ological literature, as recently pointed out by me (Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 

 xiv, 1891, p. 485, seq.), is equaled, if not surpassed, by that of the 

 present species and Sceloporus clarlcii. 



The latter species was established in 1852 by Baird and Girard upon 

 specimens from 'Sonora' (*. e., Arizona). Two years later, Mr. Hallo- 

 well described another large specimen of Sceloporus from the viciuity of 

 Fort Yuma as S. magister. With the material at hand then, and con- 

 sidering the insufficiency of the descriptions, it is hardly to be won- 

 dered at that Baird and Girard subsequently adduced Hallowell's name 

 S. magister as a synonym to S. clarlcii, or that they have been followed 

 in this course by all subsequent herpetologists, with the possible ex- 

 ception, perhaps, of Hallowell himself, who, in 1859 still retains the 

 name S. magister. They are, however, undoubtedly good species, as 

 will be shown further on. 



One of the more recent authors to monograph the genus, Mr. Bocourt, 

 in 1874, seems to have recognized the difference between the two, as he 

 thinks S. clarlcii related to S. formosus, and S. magister to spinosus or 

 aeantliinus, but beyond these vague suggestions, there is nothing to 

 indicate that he ever had the opportunity to examine specimens of 

 either. 



In 1875 S. clarlcii is recognized by Cope, Coues, and Yarrow, in their 

 various publications, and zosteromus is made a subspecies of S. clarlcii, 

 but not even that much recognition is given S. magist er. In Yarrow's 

 Catalogue and Check list of 1883 there is no change. 



In Cope's 'Synopsis of the Mexican Species of the Genus Sceloporus, 1 

 published in 1885, there is a decided inclination towards lumping several 

 of the North American forms (see for instance the synonymy of S. undu- 

 latus), but one is hardly prepared to find S. zosteromus raised to a dis- 

 tinct species again and to the total abandonment of S. clarlcii. True, 

 the paper by its title refers only to Mexican species, but as it includes 

 several species confined to the United States it seems evident that the 

 species occurring in North America were also intended to be included. 



But in the same year we meet a decided novelty, as Mr. Boulenger, 

 in the second volume of his Catalogue of the Lizards in the British 

 Museum, makes S. clarlcii a subspecies of S. spinosus, with the following 

 synonymy: S. magister Hall.; S. fioridanus Baird, and S. thayerii 

 Bocourt (nee. B.& G.) ! And in addition he remarks : " This form appears 

 to be completely linked with S. undulatus." Before proceeding farther 

 I will note here that at least his specimen a, from the 'Colorado Bot- 

 tom,' is true S. magister, and that possibly he has not seen S. clarlcii, 

 under which name this specimen was probably sent to the British 

 Museum by the Smithsonian Institution. 



The last monographer of the genus, Dr. Giinther , in the reptile volume 

 of Biologia Centrali- Americana (February, 1890), finally includes both 



