170 THE HERPETOLOGY OF CUBA. 



ear opening; tail somewhat compressed; the caudal crest better developed 

 than the dorsal. 



Colour (in life) : — OUve-gray or brown, often with lighter cross-bands ; 

 the tail strikingly banded above with light and dark. Belly deep ohvaceous 

 on the throat, chest and midventral region, fading to yellow posteriorly and on 

 the under surfaces of limbs and tail. 



Dimensions: — Total length 200 mm. (A very large adult from 



Cabo Maisf). 



Tip of snout to vent 112 mm. (Tip of tail lost). 



Vent to tip of tail ? mm. 



Width' of head 22 mm. 



Fore hmb 42 mm. 



Hind Umb 77 nam. 



By far the most characteristic and conspicuous reptile of the marine coast 

 plant associations, where the coast is sandy, is Ameiva auberi, while about rocky 

 shores its place is taken by this bizarre-looking creature. About the gloomy 

 walls of Cabanas Fortress and about the Morro Castles of both Santiago and 

 Havana Leiocephalus carinatus abounds; and both adults and young may be 

 seen during the heat of the day scampering about the bases of the great walls, 

 in the moats and along the sea-cliffs, dodging in and out of the crevices or bur- 

 rowing under loose stones. As they scuttle briskly about with their tail tightly 

 curled over their backs they look for all the world hke tiny pug dogs and have 

 well earned the common Cuban name for them of Perico or doggy. Where 

 there are rocky stretches of coast they abound but they sometimes frequent 

 the sandy stretches as well, scampering about among the great dry leaves of the 

 Beach Grape {Cocoloba uvifera) and making a most startUng racket considering 

 their size. Specimens have been collected about the inland outskirts of Havana 

 (Gundlach and Barbour) where they frequent the moats of old forts and similar 

 situations. At Bayamo they are found on the high steep cUffs cut by the river 

 which flows near the city (Gundlach and Barbour). In general, however, it 

 is strictly a coast-land species. * 



The young are differently coloured from the adults and it is noteworthy 

 that they have the broad maroon-brown lateral band, only \\ith wider white 

 margins, which is so characteristic of many other species of the genus and 

 specially of the Cuban macropus and cubensis. The tail and back are streaked 

 and marbled much more profusely than in either of these two species. 



