168 THE HERPETOLOGY OF CUBA. 
A very young specimen, a female measuring only 115 millimeters from 
snout to vent, collected at Belig, Cabo Cruz, Cuba, by O. Tollin and now in 
the collection of the junior author, varies greatly in colour from the adult, but the 
lepidosis of the specimen is very similar to that of the typical adult. In this 
example the ground tone of the dorsal surface is grayish blue tinged with green- 
ish; along the middle line of the back there is aseries of broad white cross-bars 
edged broadly before and behind with black; these black and white ‘cross-bars 
are continued on the sides as a series of wavy stripes, each stripe pointing 
obliquely backward; the ventral surface is paler than the dorsal, and is covered 
by broken continuations of the lateral stripes. 
This species was once a common inhabitant of all parts of the Island. By 
1880, however, when Gundlach wrote it had begun to be rare, although he said 
that it still lived in various cays and about some of the coasts of both Cuba and 
the Island of Pines. At the present time we have specimens or know definitely 
that it occurs in the following regions:— near Baracoa (de la Torre), about 
Guantanamo (the authors) and near Santiago (Wirt Robinson). There is a 
beautiful young specimen from near Belig, Cabo Cruz, in the collection of the 
junior author. It is known to occur commonly on the cays of the coast near 
Manzanillo, Santa Cruz del Sur, as well as those in the Gulf of Batabané. It 
is also found on some of the cays of the north coast near Cardenas and Remedios. 
On the mainland of Cuba it also occurs on the Pan de Guajaibén, in the moun- 
tains about the Valley of Luis Lazo and El Sumidero, in the coastal plain about 
Santa Cruz del Norte, all in Pinar del Rio Province, and probably in some 
other localities as well. In the Island of Pines, the Iguana is more common 
than in Cuba. Its tracks and burrows may often be seen in the sand about 
the coasts and they occur in the Sierras as well. In general it prefers the neigh- 
borhood of rocky hills and precipices where there are crevices for hiding and 
ledges on which it may bask in the sunshine. Iguanas are more often seen than 
captured, for they are decidedly shy. They may only be secured by shooting 
or by setting nooses at the entrances to their lairs or hiding places. Gundlach 
spoke of how they were, in his day, hunted for food; he considered them excel- 
lent. Throughout tropical America Cyclura and its allies are eagerly sought 
and are esteemed highly. At present, however, in Cuba they are generally 
held in great disgust and often even regarded as poisonous. The country folk 
often declare that when an Iguana is hung up a drivel or slobber supposed to 
be poisonous falls from its mouth called the biba or burujo. Possibly this 
notion is derived from its similarity to the burujo or black vomit which comes 
