HERPETOLOGY OF PORTO RICO. 555 



eral. At present one may traverse the island from one end to the 

 other without getting a glimpse of a single one. 



The apparent rarity of the toad {Bufo lem ur) is probably due less 

 to the mongoose than to its very retired habits and the scarcity of 

 suitable localities. The name Sapo is known to the inhabitants, but 

 in most places is misapplied to the L&ptodactylus and the tree toad. 

 Some even knew the name Sapo concho, by which the Porto Rican 

 toad is known specifically because of the shell-like hardness of the 

 bony head covering, but no one seemed able to give us any informa- 

 tion which would lead to its discovery. Even a large reward which I 

 offered proved ineffective. Dr. Stahl, who, during a residence of more 

 than forty years, had collected assiduously, and to whom the country 

 people used to bring all the natural curiosities they could find, assured 

 us that he himself had never seen the toad in its native haunts, and 

 that altogether only six specimens had been brought him, so that our 

 prospects of finding it were very slight. Mr. Baker and the Fish 

 Commission party had also failed to obtain a single specimen. We 

 were constantly watching for it, and nearly despaired of getting one 

 but finally decided to spend some time in Arecibo as the most likely 

 place for them to occur. Even here we were on the point of giving- 

 up our search for the now almost mythical animal, when on the last 

 night of our stay there, after our baggage was packed for our depart- 

 ure the next morning, I became the happy possessor of five fine speci- 

 mens, thanks to the zealous and intelligent assistance of Enrique L. 

 Braseoechea, a young- Porto Rican of Aguadilla, a United States tele- 

 graph operator, and at the time temporarily in charge of the telegraph 

 office in Arecibo. 



During this trip I paid special attention to the colors of the living 

 reptiles and batrachians which I collected, and full descriptions were 

 prepared with Ridgway's Nomenclator of Colors in hand for reference. 

 These descriptions will be found in the present account under their 

 proper headings. 



The figures illustrating this paper are mostl} T the work of Mr. R. G. 

 Paine. A few havQ been drawn by Miss Sigrid Bentzon. 



The author wishes to express his obligations to various persons who 

 have assisted in accumulating the material at band, either directly by 

 collecting part of it or indirectly by assisting him while in Porto Rico. 



Thanks are particularly due to the authorities of the U. S. Fish 

 Commission for the use of the magnificent collections made by the 

 Fish Hawk expedition, and to Mr. A. B. Baker for the zeal and care 

 displayed in getting together the finest collection of reptiles made up 

 to that time in Porto Rico. I am also under obligations to Mr. Louis 

 McCormick, Mr. B. S. Bowdish, Mr. Charles E. Adams, and Dr. A. 

 •Stahl, for specimens collected by them in various parts of the island 

 and presented to the National Museum. 



