1925] Storer: A Synopsis of the Amphibia of California 
93 
leaves. On December 13 after the population had been established 
aboveground for some time, the hiding place was examined at 6 :15 p.m. 
after full darkness. There were no salamanders under the box, but, 
by aid of the flash lamp, one was seen out on a path where none could 
be found during the daytime. On December 28 more than 20 Batrach- 
oseps attenuatus besides four large Ensatina eschscholtzii were found 
under this particular box. 
When the hiding place of Batraehoseps is uncovered during the 
daytime some of the animals remain quietly in place. Others make 
off by creeping along as fast as is possible with their small legs and 
feet; still others suddenly curl the body into an irregular loop and 
then suddenly straighten out, sometimes continuing this as a series of 
violent contortive movements, curling first to one side and then to the 
other. The result is to carry the animal in irregular course this way 
and that. An attempt to pick up one of the salamanders often stimu- 
lates the animal to begin these peculiar movements. None of our other 
salamanders has been seen to do this ; it is probably correlated with 
the relatively slight development of the limbs in Batraehoseps. The 
successive movements are executed in quick succession and would 
seem to be of service in evading natural enemies. The ordinary slow 
walking motion would be of no avail to Batraehoseps in an emergency. 
A second feature of possible service in case of attack by an enemy 
is the autotomv of the tail. Specimens of Batraehoseps when seized 
by the tail can break it off with reasonable facility by giving it a few 
violent sidewise twists. Whether this feature is of actual service 
to the salamander is unknown. In the case of captive individuals 
attacked by other species of salamanders (Storer, MS) or by snakes 
(Hubbard, 1903), enemy and prey were in close confinement so that 
the experiments are not conclusive with respect to the possible service 
of the tail under natural conditions. 
In the winter of 1921 the writer had several specimens of Batracho- 
seps attenuatus confined in a terrarium with a specimen of Amby stoma 
calif ormense, three adult Triturus torosus, and an adult and young 
of Ensatina eschscholtzii. The Batraehoseps were seen to be decreas- 
ing in numbers and one day the Amby stoma was discovered with the 
tail of a Batraehoseps protruding from its mouth. Later the tails of 
two more were found, evidently severed when in the mouth of the 
larger salamander. Aneides lugubris has been known to feed on 
Batraehoseps on at least one occasion. Hubbard (1903, p. 163) 
records Batraehoseps as having been fed upon by two snakes, 
