190 



NORTH AMERICAN FAUNA. 



[No. 7. 



It was thought, however, that such blood-lettings must be somewhat 

 exhausting, and that it would be bettor to allow the animal a day to 

 recuperate. While talking I picked up the lizard and was holding it 

 between my thumb and middle finger, and stroking its horns with my 

 fore-finger. All at once a quantity of blood was thrown out against 

 my fingers, and a portion of it ran down on the animal's neck; and this 

 blood came directly out of the right eye. It was shot backward and 

 appeared to issue from the outer canthus. It was impossible to deter- 

 mine just how much there was of the blood, but it seemed that there 

 must have been a quarter of a teaspoonful. I went so far as to taste 

 a small quantity of it, but all that I could detect was a slight musky 

 flavor." 



[The fact that horned toads at times eject blood from their eyes is 

 well known in the West, and is by no means confined to the present 

 species. I have been aware of the habit for many years. 



Phrynosoma blainvillii is the horned toad of the interior valley and 

 coastal slopes of California. Specimens were obtained by our expedi- 

 tion on the west slope of the Sierra Nevada in Walker Pass, in Kern 

 Valley, Walker Basin, and at old Fort Tejon in the Canada de las 

 Uvas; and others were collected at Bakersfield and Fresno in the 

 San Joaquin Valley, and on Carrizo Plain. — C. H. M.]* 



List of specimens of Phrynosoma blainvillii. 



V. s. 





Nat. 



Sex and 



Mus. 



age. 



No. 





38446 



d 



18447 



9 



18448 



d 



18449 



cf 



18450 



5 



18451 



9 



18452 



d 



18453 



d .inn. 



18454 



d juv. 



18455 



9 jun. 



1845G 



? 



18457 



d 



18458 



9 



18459 



9 



18460 



tfjun. 



Locality. 



Walker Pass, Calif 



do 



do 



Walker Basin, Calif 



South Fork, Kern River, Calif. 



Kernville, Calif. . s .-. 



do 



Fresno, Calif 



do 



do 



Bakersfield, Calif 



Carrizo Plains, Calif 



do 



Old Fort Tejon, Calif 



Canada de las Uvas, Calif . 



Alti- 

 tude. 



Feet. 



2,750 



Date. 



July 2 

 ....do... 

 ....do... 

 July 14 

 July 7 

 June 23 

 July 11 



Sept. 23 

 ....do... 

 ....do... 

 Oct. 11 

 ....do... 

 ....do... 

 July 4 

 July 9 



Collector. 



Bailey . 

 ....do... 

 Fisher.. 

 Bailey . . 



do ... 



Palmer 

 Bailey . . 



...do ... 



...do .. 



...do ... 

 Nelson. 

 ....do ... 

 ....do .. 

 Palmer 

 ....do.. 



Remarks. 



Western slope. 



Ejected blood 

 from eye. 



PI. II, fig. 2. 



Phrynosoma platyrhinos Girard. 



Boulenger asserts that this species is " very closely allied " to Ph. 

 tri'caUU, (Cat. Liz. Br. Mus., n, 1885, p. 247), but as a matter of fact 

 these species are as distinct as any two in the genus. Boulenger's 

 error, undoubtedly, arose from the fact that the specimen he described 

 as Ph. rn'calMi is not this species at all, but only another specimen of 

 Ph. platyrhinos. No wonder his specimens are "very closely allied!" 

 Had he compared his specimens with the descriptions and figures 

 quoted by him he would not have made the mistake; as it is, he has 



