4 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW [16:1— Jan., 1920 



room for the first travellers. Our stay here however was a delight- 

 ful one; and the night was made melodious with the songs of the 

 tree toads in the little stream near by. Palm Canyon is also known 

 for its hermit, a man who has lived the godly life (and sold post- 

 cards to the tourist) for a number of years. Rumor has it now 

 that he is giving up his asceticism and returning to the Great 

 White Way to make up for the years he has missed on the desert. 



Wednesday morning we left peaceful Palm Canyon and started 

 over the desert again through regions of mesquite dunes where the 

 mesquite hung heavy with mistletoe, which was in full bloom and 

 made sweet the air for long distances. Then we would traverse 

 long dry stretches almost without vegetation, but with that won- 

 derful blue haze always hovering about the horizon. 



The monotony was enlivened by the occasional passing of a 

 raven or of some other bird. Then too, when the day grew warm, 

 one could always find a lizard; do let me say something about 

 lizards. For real genuine sport, I know of nothing more exciting 

 than to rush madly over the desert from one clump of bushes 

 so another in pursuit of a lizard which consistently refuses to stand 

 still long enough to be made a zoological specimen with the aid 

 of a twenty-two rifle, and which finally ends the chase by dis- 

 appearing into a convenient burrow. 



The lizards about Palm Springs are of many kinds; one of the 

 most striking is the gridiron-tailed lizard {Callisauis ventralis) 

 a very long legged and swift fellow that holds aloft his tail with its 

 transverse black bars on the under side, and scampers over the 

 desert at the rate of at least one mile per minute. Then there is 

 a vegetarian, the desert iguana, whose large chunky body reminds 

 one of a prehistoric form, but whose speed is assured by its large 

 feet. This lizard bears the euphonious name of Dipsosauris dor- 

 salis. It is of a light color with reddish brown transverse bars on 

 the body and long tail. Another striking one is the ocellated sand 

 lazard (Uma notata) a swift runner with fringe on his feet and with 

 beautifully marked body. The chuckawalla (Sauromalus ater 

 is the largest one of all ; I did not get to see it however, but there 

 were other smaller ones like the whip-tailed lizard (Cnemidophorus 

 tigris tigris), and brown-shouldered lizard (JJta stansburiana 

 elegans). These with the rattlesnake that one always looks for 

 and rarely finds, add largely to the interest in the desert. 



