Barbour — Notes on West Indian Reptiles and Amphibians. 217 



Color, dirty brown above witli irregular wavy cross bands of bluish 

 green; throat yellowish, chest dark blue green, belly light blue green, 

 limbs flecked or speckled above, thighs marked posteriorly with a con- 

 spicuous longitudinal light stripe on a dark, almost black tield. 



Doctor Griswold, for whom the species is properly named, sent three 

 specimens of this Ameiva, the type and two smaller examples to the 

 Museum of Comparative Zoology, as well as additional and most welcome 

 specimens of Anolis antiquae Barbour and Eleutherodactylus martinicensis 

 D. & B. We had frequently remarked upon how strange it was that no 

 Ameiva was known from Antigua. Doctor Griswold finds it present but 

 rare. He writes ' ' The mongoose was introduced here about 20 years ago 

 to combat ' cane rats.' These rats were very destructive and caused con- 

 siderable damage. The local government paid £1000 for the importation 

 of 1000 mongoose. The result is that the rats left the fields and are now 

 in human habitations. If plague were ever introduced here, 1 <lread to 

 think of the results. 



"The mongoose has driven the rats from the cane fields, exterminated 

 the ' guanas ' and snakes, and is now doing its best to do the same 

 with the chickens. 



"The local government now pays a bounty of 'tu' pence' for males and 

 four pence for females." 



So much for the history of the introduction of the mongoose to Antigua. 

 With a little variation it would serve equally well as the story for a host 

 of other islands. 



Ameiva dorsalis Gray. 



In spite of many searches we have never been able to learn anything 

 in the field regarding the breeding habits of any of the Antillean species 

 of Ameiva. It was, therefore, with great delight that I received a letter 

 not long ago from my friend Dr. M. Grabham of Kingston, Jamaica, 

 telling of the finding of the eggs of A . dorsalis and their transmission 

 to me here. They have come to hand safely. Doctor Grabham writes: 

 "The eggs (of ^. dorsalis) are rarely met with. We have often followed 

 the burrows for considerable distances without success. These were found 

 among the roots of a tree about three feet below the surface. * ♦ * 

 I believe the specimens may be of interest; two young hatched out a few 

 hours after we got the eggs. This fine lizard is very plentiful in my own 

 garden because we have no cats or dogs to hunt it down and the mon- 

 goose does not come into Kingston. It is a most useful scavenger 

 devouring many insect pests and snails and bugs. The males, like 

 those of many other species we have here, are great fighters.' ' The eggs 

 measure 27 x 15 mm. The young measure from snout to vent 36 mm. 

 and from vent to tip of tail, 78 mm. 



Liocephalus arenarius sp. nov. 

 Type an adult M. C. Z. No. 11948 from Bastion Cay, Turks Islands, 

 B. W. I., collected by Louis A. Mowbray in June, 1916. 

 Related closely to L. melanochlorus Cope with the types of which it has 



