CUBAN AMPHIBIANS AND REPTILES COLLECTED FOR THE 

 UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM FROM 1899 TO 1902. 



By Leonhard Stejneger, 



Head Curator, Department of Biology, United States National Muaeuin. 



Shortly after the war with Spain for the liberation of Cuba several 

 members of the staff of the United States National Museum visited 

 the island for the purpose of making collections of natural history 

 specimens. 



The principal expedition was that of Messrs. William Palmer and 

 J. H. Riley, who collected in western Cuba, between Matanzas and 

 Pinar del Rio, from February 14 to August 7, 1900, including a stay 

 at Nueva Gerona, Isle of Pines, from June 27 to July 11, The most 

 important reptile collections were made at Pinar del Rio and in a 

 locality called El Guama, about 6 miles northwest of the city of Pinar 

 del Rio from February 18 to March 29; at San Diego de los Banos, 

 from April 4 to 24; at Guanajay and Mariel, April 27 to May 15, and 

 at Cabanas May 15 to June 4. The locality El Guamd has become 

 very important as the type-locality of the as yet unique Bufo longi- 

 nasus. Mr. Palmer describes it as a smaU store situated in a pleasant 

 valley in the coffee and tobacco belt, surrounded by precipitous hiUs, 

 those to the north being covered with pines. Between these hills the 

 stony beds of mountain streams, nearly dry except for scattered 

 pools of water at the time of his visit, made their way toward the 

 south. In one of these rocky beds near the pine woods the precious 

 type of that minute toad was captured. 



About the same time Dr. C. W. Richmond and myself who had 

 spent several months collecting in Porto Rico, stopped on our return 

 a few days (Apr. 22 to 24, 1900), at Santiago de Cuba. The visit was 

 unexpected and all our collecting paraphernalia were packed away. 

 Dr. H. B. Parker, the resident port surgeon, very kindly supphed us 

 with some formalin, so that we were able to preserve a number of 

 specimens which we collected in one of the valleys close to town. 

 I made very careful color notes on the fresh specimens, which are 

 incorporated verbatim in the present report. 



Mr. B. S. Bowdish, of Demarest, New Jersey, was employed by the 

 United States National Museum for a short time in the latter part of 

 1901 and the beginning of 1902. He collected in the eastern part of 

 the island, principally at Guam^ and in the immediate vicinity of 



Proceedings U. S. National Museum. Vol. 53-2205. 



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