No. 15. — Notes on the Herpetology of Jamaica. By Thomas Barbour. Introduction. On the return from a trip to South America the writer stayed somewhat more than a month (March-April, 1909) in Jamaica. The opportunity was taken for collecting a considerable series of reptiles and amphibians, and as great changes have taken place, and are still taking place, affecting the abundance of many species it seems desirable to prepare the following outline of the Herpetology of the island. The introduc-tion of the mongoose (Herpestes griseus E. Geoff.) has caused the almost complete extinction of many species which were once abundant, and has in some ways radically changed the facies of the fauna. In the back country lizards are rarely met with, and it is only in the vicinities of villages and towns, where they are more or less protected, that one may obtain satisfactory series of many species. The true ground-inhabiting forms have, of course, suffered most, so that lizards of the genera Ameiva, Mabuia, and Celestus are now scarce and difficult to obtain. This is all the more unfortunate because the members of the last-named genus were particularly interesting, local in distribution, retir-ing in their habits, and even, before the introduction of the mongoose, rare in collections. Snakes have suffered perhaps more than lizards. The general opinion in Jamaica is that the Boa, Epicrates, as well as the large Iguana, are now almost extinct on the main island, though they still occur on some of the near-by outlying islets. As for other snakes, the racers are now scarce and difficult to obtain, while the burrowing snakes are, owing to their habits, of uncertain occurrence. There is no reason to suppose, however, that their abundance has been affected by the spread of the mongoose. The amphibians are quite plentiful. The large tree frogs may be heard almost any night or during showers in localities slightly above the level of the sea. I have never heard any near the sea-coast towns. The Hylas generally spend most of their time hiding in the clumps of what
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