1925] 
Storer: A Synopsis of the Amphibia of California 
273 
is, to the best of my knowledge, the first evidence of the occurrence 
of this frog in the northwestern part of British Columbia and also 
of its presence anywhere in Alaska. “Bona pretiosa” has been 
recorded at numerous localities in the interior, but the subspecific 
status of these records has not been ascertained since Gaige in 1913 
described Rana pretiosa luteiventris. On geographical reasoning 
some of these records might be expected to belong to the latter sub- 
species. The records are given here merely as pertaining to Rana 
pretiosa in order to outline the range of the species as fully as 
possible. 
Cope (1879, p. 435) records a specimen from Prickly Pear Canon 
near Port Benton, Montana. Cary (1917, p. 33) lists Rana pretiosus 
[__ p re ti osa ^ from Wyoming, stating that it is more abundant in the 
Transition than in the Upper Sonoran Zone. Van Denburgh and 
Slevin (19215, p. 42) record it in Idaho from Payette Lake and Mc- 
Call, Boise County, and Guyer Hot Springs, Blaine County ; the same 
authors (1915, p. 102) record one specimen from Fort Douglas, Utah, 
and a large number from Provo Canon, Wasatch Mountains, Wasatch 
County. These authors evidently reject luteiventris , as they state 
that they are unable to find constant differences in coloration or in 
plantar or palmar tubercles between these Utah specimens and others 
from Fort Klamath, Oregon, and Mount Rainier, Washington. 
Life-history. — Rana p. pretiosa in California occurs in pools or 
marshes along perennial streams and in springs. It is a highly aquatic 
species. While specifically distinct from the aurora group it resembles 
the latter in habits. The ecologic requirements of the two are much 
alike, and present information suggests that the two are almost, if 
not entirely, complementary in distribution. They occur together in 
the moist part of western Washington, where presumably the aquatic 
environment is more diversified than in other parts of the West (see 
p. 18). 
Dickerson (1906, pp. 218-219) on the basis of data furnished by 
Professor J. F. Illingsworth gives the following information con- 
cerning the life-history. 
The Western Frog has been found during the winter, sleeping in the mud 
under a foot or more of water, along marshy lake margins. It appears in the 
Puget Sound region from the last of February to the middle of March. A few 
scattered individuals may, however, be seen on sunny days throughout the winter. 
These are usually among the lily -pads along the marshy borders of the lakes. 
As soon as they appear in March, they set up a noisy croaking, and the eggs 
are laid between this time and the first of April. The egg-masses . . . are un- 
