Pages [18 and 19]

18

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MARCH 7, 1949. PLAN DEL RIO (CONTD)

I ALSO SAW A LEIOLOPISMA THAT ESCAPED ME.

THIS EVENING, AFTER SUPPER, I HEARD BUFO OF SOME
SPECIES CALLING VERY LOUDLY DOWN THE HILL I TOOK THE
FLASH AND WENT DOWN, BUT THEY WERE IN TERRAIN
COMPLETELY UNKNOWN TO ME, SO I COULD NOT FIND THEM.
I CAUGHT A STRING OF FISH FOR BAILEY, AND RETURNED
TO CAMP MAC SAID HE KNEW HOW TO REACH THE POND I
WANTED, SO WE WENT BACK AGAIN. HE TOOK ME TO THE
DAM, BUT THERE WAS NOTHING THERE. I THEN FOLLOWED
THE CALLS BACK AWAYS; THEN HAD TO WAIT A BIT I
HEARD A NEW CALL WHILE WAITING - A SOUND EXACTLY LIKE
THE QUACKING OF DUCKS. IT STARTS SLOWLY AND PICKS
UP SPEED TOWARD THE END I FOLLOWED IT TO SEE WHAT
IT WAS, AND FOUND A RATHER SLOW FLOWING SECTION OF
THE STREAM. THIS SMALL POND HAD BOTH THE BUFOS AND
THE QUACKERS IN IT. I FINALLY RAN DOWN THE QUACKS,
AND IT TURNED OUT TO BE A HYLA - AND I AM CERTAIN
IT IS BAUDINII. I GOT ONE CLASPING PAIR, AND I
FOUND EGGS DEPOSITED, IN THE SACK THE NEXT DAY - TWO
MASSES. THEREFORE, HYLA BAUDINII BREEDS IN THE
EARLY PART OF MARCH - AT LEAST IN THIS LOCALITY. I
GOT 5 OF THEM.

I ALSO FINALLY GOT SOME OF THE BUFO. THEY LOOK
MUCH LIKE COMPACTILIS ^CRISTANTUS^ TO ME. THEIR CALL IS TO ALL
INTENTS AND PURPOSES EXACTLY THE SAME AS THAT OF
B. AMERICANUS, I COULD DECTECT NO DIFFERENCE.

MACINTOSH SAW A SNAKE WHICH WAS NEAR THE
WATER, BUT WE COULDN'T GET IT. IT MUST HAVE BEEN
A GEOPHIS FROM THE DESCRIPTION, A GOOD SIZED RANA
CARRIED ON A GUTTERAL CONVERSATION ALL EVENING, BUT
WE COULDN'T GET ANY.

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19
MARCH 8, 1949, PLAN DEL RIO.

SPENT THE MORNING COLLECTING LIZARDS WITH .22
DUST SHOT. COLLECTED A DOZEN OR SO. BOTH CNEMIDOPHORUS AND
SCELOPORUS WERE ABUNDANT IN THE LIMESTONE HILLS, IN VERY
DRY PLACES. THERE WERE MANY ON THE FLAT PLAIN OR
PRAIRIE AREAS, BUT MORE WERE ON THE SLOPES, WHERE THE
BOULDERS FORM LARGE CREVICES, AND THE SUN DOESN'T SHINE
QUITE SO BRIGHTLY AND ISN'T SO HOT. I SAW A VERY LARGE
LIZARD WHICH STAYED TOO FAR AHEAD OF ME TO GET A SHOT
AT IT, THAT GOT UP ON ITS HIND LEGS AND RAN, BIPEDALLY.
IT WAS MARKED LIKE AN AMEIVA (OR [illegible]), ALTHOUGH I'VE NEVER
HEARD OF BIPEDAL [illegible] IN THESE GENER THE SCELOPORUS
ARE ALWAYS QUICK MOVING AND MAKE SHORT DASHES, MOVING
RAPIDLY AND STOPPING. (THEY ARE ALL S. VARIABILIS HERE,
I BELIEVE). THE CNEMIDOPHORUS, ON THE OTHER HAND, ARE
SLOWER, AND ARE ALMOST CONSTANTLY IN MOTION, CRAWLING
DELIBERATELY, APPARENTLY ON THE HUNT. THEY DRAG THEIR
TAILS BEHIND THEM, WAKE THE SCELOPS LIFT THE TAIL HIGH
WHILE MOVING. CNEMIDOPHORUS IS VERY SNAKELIKE IN ITS MOVEMENTS.

WE RETURNED TO THE SPRING I FOUND SO PRODUCTIVE
YESTERDAY TO BATHE, AND I TURNED THE ROCK AGAIN WHICH
HAD SHELTERED THE LARGE CNEMIDOPHORUS (ALL REFERENCES TO
THIS GENUS AT THIS COLLECTION POINT MAY BE REFERABLE TO
[illegible]). HE WAS BACK THERE, AND THIS TIME HE SCUTTLED
OFF UP THE LIMESTONE SCOPE. I SHOT HIM EASILY. IT WAS
DEFINTELY THE SAME BEAST, AS I HAD PULLED HIS TAIL OFF
THE DAY BEFORE IN A DEEP CREVICE.

WE DROVE FROM HERE TO A NEW ROAD TO HUATUSCO,
WHICH WE TOOK TO GOBE CORDOBA. THE DISTANCE TO HUATUSCO
WAS THRU A VERY DRY, PLAINLIKE, LOW AREA, WITH CACTI
AND PEPPER TREES AGAIN. WE CLIMBED UP TO HUATUSCO AND