48 BARBOUR — SOUTH AMERICAN VERTEBRATES Pe 
lizards on very many of the West Indies are, in their naturally 
restricted areas, probably the commonest reptiles existing. This 
abundance is not so general on the mainland, though there are, of 
course, circumscribed areas where very many lizards occur. ‘This 
is borne out by the published notes of a number of observers. ‘The 
abundance of individuals of many species of lizards, especially 
scines, notably on Ceram and Halmahera in the Moluccas, as well 
as on Waigiu, Jobi, and other Papuan islands, and to some extent 
on New Guinea itself, calls at once to mind the conditions in the 
West Indies, already remarked upon. As far as my experience goes, 
I believe that Cuba and many of the Bahamas support a larger 
lizard population than do islands of the same size in the East Indies. 
From the relative abundance of insect life, and from other factors 
such as climate and vegetation, one would expect a reversed con- 
dition of affairs. Including all classes of reptiles and amphibians, 
the writer has been able to gather more individuals in a given time 
in Western Java than in any other region, indeed so many more 
that it seems improbable that the excellent native assistance in 
collecting was entirely accountable for this result, especially as the 
same natives were carried about and used elsewhere. ‘These other 
localities were, however, strange to them, which would naturally 
result in a somewhat smaller average daily bag. Reptiles are 
markedly abundant in various localities in Burma, Malaya, and 
about Saigon in Cochin China, but they simply teem in the country 
lying between Buitenzorg and the Preanger Regencies, especially 
in the forests on the slopes of the Gedeh, Pangerango, Papandaiang, 
Tangkuban Prau, and other mountains near by. 
It is worth while to mention that at Petropolis, in Brazil, Siphon- 
ops braziliensis Liitk. occurred in about equal numbers with S. 
annulatus (Mikan), though the former has always been very rare 
in museums. It was found by digging in the moist earth under 
manure heaps about stables. In the shrubbery of the garden of the 
American Embassy the rasping, heavy snore of Hyla cireumdata 
(Cope) was audible, during showery weather, nearly every night. 
The sound could be located, and then the frog found by means of a 
lantern. ‘They seldom fled from the light. On stone walls near-by 
the curious lichen-like Thoropa miliaris (Spix) was not at all un- 
