NATURALIST'S GUIDE TO THE AMERICAS 



is moderately forested. There are some 

 large stands in the east. 



c. Cibao valley between northern 

 range and central Cordillera is a broad 

 well-settled plain. Some fine pastures 

 occur here. 



d. Northern slope of central Cordil- 

 lera is heavily forested, at least the higher 

 portions. Pine forests cover most of 

 the ridges and some curve down to the 

 lowlands, as for example at La Vega. 



e. Central plateau is made up of 

 rolling hills covered with grass and 

 broken stands of pine. Dense woods 

 choke the valleys, while thickets of 

 fern occur on the highest peaks. 



/. Southern slope of the central 

 Cordillera is characterized by bare 

 hills sparsely covered with pine. 



g. Southeastern coast is mostly scrub 

 country. 



h. Southwestern mountain range of 

 coast. Some sections (in Santo Do- 

 mingo) very wet, others (in extreme 

 southwestern Santo Domingo and east- 

 ern Haiti) rather dry, a mixture of 

 ecological conditions. 



i. The southwest north of the Sierra 

 de Bahoruco is very arid; true deserts 

 around the dead sea (Enriquillo) grade 

 into scrub land near Barahona. 



j. Floristic relations. To the casual 

 observer the trees such as Lignum- 

 vitae, Haematoxylon of the lowlands, 

 and the ubiquitous Pinus occidentalis 

 of the hills are of interest. In the 

 southwestern part of Santo Domingo 

 we might expect Opuntia, Cereus, 

 Nopalea, Melocactus, besides several 

 species of Agave and other xerophytic 

 plants. 



4. Animal life (faunistic account) 



The fauna of Hispaniola is of interest 

 to the naturalist because of its peculiar 

 zoogeographic affinities and because 

 of the large number of indigenous forms, 

 the affinities of which have not yet been 

 determined. The island may have been 

 at one time connected with Cuba and 

 at another with Jamaica. The fauna 

 of Porto Rico seems to be merely an 

 extension of that of Santo Domingo. 



For example, among the reptiles and 

 amphibians of Hispaniola, Bufo, Gona- 

 todes, Leiocephalus and Amphisbaena 

 are all found in Cuba and most of them 

 in Porto Rico, while not a single one 

 occurs in Jamaica. On the other hand, 

 Aristelliger and Mabuya are found in 

 Hispaniola and Jamaica, the latter in 

 Porto Rico and neither in Cuba. An- 

 other illustration of this probable 

 duplex origin of the fauna of Hispaniola 

 is found among the large shiny scaled 

 lizards usually called "Lucia" by the 

 natives of Santo Domingo. There is 

 one species of this genus (Celestus) on 

 Cuba, three on Jamaica, while on His- 

 paniola there are four, these four rep- 

 resenting both Cuban and Jamaican 

 elements. In addition to this Cuban 

 and Jamaican facies to the Hispaniola 

 fauna, there is a touch of Bahaman 

 forms no less than six species of rep- 

 tiles and amphibians being common to 

 the two regions. 



Mention has already been made of 

 the large number of peculiar forms on 

 the island. The fauna may be sum- 

 marized as follows : 



Mammals. Very few; Solenodon, pos- 

 sibly Capromys and several species 

 of bats. 



Birds. A large and varied fauna. 

 Perhaps the most interesting are an 

 enormous piculid, Nesoctites, a peculiar 

 nightjar, several Todys, a crossbill, a 

 Brachyspiza and several birds of very 

 uncertain affinities, such as Microlegia, 

 Phoenicophilus, Calyptophilus, and 

 lastly Dulus, which looks something 

 like a cowbird but builds enormous 

 colonial nests. 



Reptiles and amphibians. A large 

 fauna having affinities with other West 

 Indian genera and species; some very 

 spectacular forms among the tree frogs 

 and large iguanids . No poisonous snakes 

 occur on the island. 



Fishes. Not well known, mostly West 

 Indian; Lima, a viviparous poeciliid 

 seems to be the dominant group through- 

 out the island occurring in such diverse 

 habitats as mountain brooks and brack- 

 ish lakes. 



