THE AMPHIBIANS AND REPTILES OF BRITISH HONDURAS BY KARL P. SCHMIDT An account of the reptiles and amphibians of British Honduras is part of a program of research on the herpetological fauna of upper Central America proposed for Field Museum on the occasion of my joining the Museum's Department of Zoology in 1922. This project was greatly furthered by the grant of a fellowship of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation in 1932, which made possible a visit to European museums in that year. Knowing of the plan for an account of the amphibians and reptiles of British Honduras, colleagues have reserved collections from that country for my study and, while I owe them some apology for the long delay in publishing, the continued addition of specimens has made it difficult to close the manuscript. The prospect of still further additions is such that I now present only an annotated list. Present published knowledge of the herpetological fauna of British Honduras rests on scattered information in the Biologia Centrali-Americana (supplemented by the references and corrections in Boulenger's catalogues of the collections in the British Museum) and on similar records of the Mission Scientifique au Mexique. The only paper referring specifically to the reptiles of British Honduras is Cope's brief list of the Parsons collection in the United States National Museum. I am indebted to the authorities of the British Museum (Natural History), and especially to Mr. H. W. Parker and his aid, Mr. J. C. Battersby, for the privilege of examining their British Honduran material, amounting to about sixty specimens. Dr. Fernand Angel most kindly placed the corresponding collections at the Museum d'Histoire Naturelle in Paris at my disposal. The collection of 124 specimens from British Honduras in the United States National Museum also has been available for examination, thanks to the courtesy of Dr. Doris M. Cochran. The Marshall Field Expedition to Central America in 1923, com-posed of Mr. Leon L. Walters and myself, visited British Honduras and Honduras in search of amphibians and reptiles for exhibition and study. Five weeks, from January 24 to March 1, 1923, were spent in British Honduras. Our reception by the government offi-475
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