268 University of California Publications in Zoology [ VoL - 27 
Surfaces generally smooth ; sides of body with low papillae ; 
posterior surface of femur rugose ; palms and soles smooth. 
Color (in alcohol) dorsally, between lateral folds, dark brown, 
with scattered, irregularly rounded spots (up to 4 mm. in diameter) 
of black, faintly rimmed with white; dorsolateral folds pale gray or 
white ; sides of body paler than back, blending ventrally into plain 
yellow or white of undersurface; sides variously spotted with black; 
exposed surfaces of limbs like back, with irregular spots (fore limb) 
or crossbars (hind limb) of blackish ; tympanic membrane dusky 
yellow with whitish spot at center. 
History. — Cope (1889) designated the western stock of this 
species as Rana virescens [— pipiens] brackycephala, designating 
Yellowstone River [in Montana?] as the type locality, but the name 
has not found general acceptance. The few specimens at hand from 
the lower Colorado basin and the neighborhood of Lake Tahoe differ 
in that the latter have the spotting characteristic of the species in the 
eastern states, whereas the animals from southeastern California have 
fewer and smaller spots and the white margining of the spots is less 
conspicuous. 
Range. — This is the most widely distributed species of Salientian 
in North America. It is found from the Valley of Mexico northward 
to southern Canada (Quebec), and from the Atlantic coast west prac- 
tically to the Sierra-Cascade divide (Cope, 1889, pp. 397-406). The 
western boundary of its range in California may be described more 
particularly as follows : Two miles east of Dixieland, Imperial County 
(Storer, MS), Riverside Mountain, Riverside County (Grinnell and 
Camp, 1917, p. 149), Fallen Leaf Lake, Eldorado County (Calif. 
Acad. Sci.), Lake Tahoe (Richardson, 1915, p. 433), and Alturas, 
Modoc County (Calif. Acad. Sci.). The species seems not to have 
been found in eastern Oregon. In Idaho it is known from Boise, 
Ada County (Van Denburgh and Slevin, 19215, p. 42), and Sand 
Point, Kootenai County (Van Denburgh in Gilbert and Evermann, 
1895, p. 207). 
The status of pipiens at Lake Tahoe (Bryant, 1917, p. 92) is 
believed to be that of an introduced species; possibly the same is true 
at Alturas. An attempted introduction of pipiens in the northern 
Sacramento Valley was made in 1918 when stocks (source unknown) 
were planted on ranches east of Red Bluff (Elliot and Hickman 
ranches) and at Battle Creek Meadows [= Mineral Postoffice], alti- 
tude 4500 feet. Mr. D. G. Maclise, who was instrumental in placing 
these frogs, reported that in 1920 the frogs near Red Bluff were 
