THE HERPETOLOGY OF HISPANIOLA 21 



the tympanum; fingers half webbed, toes two-thirds webbed. Skin 

 excessively glandular above with numerous tubercular prominences 

 especially evident around the tympanum and lower jaw, on the loreal 

 region, and on the sides of the body; lower surfaces of body and limbs 

 very coarsely granular ; a well-developed supratympanic fold ; a heavy, 

 serrate fold of skin along the outer border of the arm and leg, con- 

 tinuing to the extremity of the outer digit; a patch of elongate glan- 

 dular prominences on each leg below the anus. Male with a large 

 brown patch on the very much enlarged inner portion of the first 

 finger, without external vocal sacs. 



Color (in alcohol): Above drab-gray, with large, slate-colored 

 irregular mottlings in a broad area across the occiput and involving 

 the posterior half of the upper eyelids, and several pairs of similar 

 large irregular spots on the back; limbs heavily cross-banded with 

 slate; lower parts pale drab-gray, the chin and throat sprinkled with 

 small slate-colored spots. 



Dimensions: Tip of snout to vent, 87 mm.; tip of snout to posterior 

 border of ear, 27 mm.; greatest width of head, 30 mm.; hindleg, 

 132 mm.; foreleg, 48 mm.; tibia, 47 mm. 



Variations. — There is little variation in the bodily proportions be- 

 tween individuals of this species. The color pattern varies to some 

 extent, as one would expect, notably in the coarseness of the spots on 

 the back and in the width of the bars crossing the upper surface of 

 the legs. The largest examples of both sexes come from San Juan 

 River, the female (U.S.N.M. No. 74514) measuring 142 mm. from 

 snout to vent, and the male (U.S.N.M. No. 74516) 112 mm. The 

 females from the Samand Peninsula, taken in February 1924, contained 

 great numbers of immature eggs. A very young frog only 26 mm. in 

 length from Camp Perrin is pale drab above, with a dark butterfly- 

 shaped marking across the posterior half of the head and a dark 

 chevron across the middle of the back. The limbs are cross-barred. 

 The area below the eye to the lip margin is distinctly white. 



Habits. — Dr. Noble (1927, pp. 95-96) has recorded the breeding 

 habits of this species: "Hyla vasta laid its eggs in little basins in the 

 gravel and stones on the edge of the pools in the mountain torrent 

 (one observation). Six days after hatching the larvae made their 

 way out of one of the basins over wet stones into the torrent pool. 

 As they grew older they developed better stream lines than the 

 tadpoles of H. dominicensis . They were equipped with more rows 

 of teeth. The mouth was larger and better adapted to holding on 

 to rocks in the stream. Its tail was thicker and more muscular than 

 that of the stagnant-pool tadpole." The eggs of vasta are pigmented 

 and the recently hatched larva is dark. The external gills are not 

 large, and the larva does not rise to the surface in the early stages. 



