170 THE HERPETOLOGY OF CUBA. 
ear opening; tail somewhat compressed; the caudal crest better developed 
than the dorsal. 
Colour (in life): — Olive-gray or brown, often with lighter cross-bands; 
the tail strikingly banded above with light and dark. Belly deep olivaceous 
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 Maisi). 
Tip of snout to vent 112 mm. (Tip of tail lost). 
Vent to tip of tail ? mm. 
Width of head 22 mm. 
Fore limb 42 mm. 
Hind limb 77 mm. 
By far the most characteristic and conspicuous reptile of the marine coast 
plant associations, where the coast is sandy, is Ameiva aubert, while about rocky 
shores its place is taken by this bizarre-looking creature. About the gloomy 
walls of Cabaiias 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 like 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 startling 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 cliffs 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 with 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. 
