Liberia *- 



is a great nuisance in Liberia as elsewhere in West Africa, 

 because it preys on fowls and ducks, as well as on their 

 eggs. It is very fierce, can bite, and inflict some damage with 

 its whip-like tail. It frequents the water a good deal, and its 

 skin is valuable in commerce. 



According to Biittikofer, the snake-like or worm-like 

 lizard, Amphisbana liberiensis, is found in this country. In 

 outward appearance these creatures are singularly like large 

 worms. They burrow in the ground, and live chiefly in ants' 

 or termites' nests. Along their burrows they can move 

 both backwards as well as forwards, and they get over the 

 ground not by writhing from side to side or curving the body 

 laterally like snakes and other lizards, but rather with the 

 movements of a caterpillar or a worm vertical undulations 

 along a straight line. The head is exceedingly small, and 

 over the snout and forehead there are large scales, at the side 

 of which the tiny little pin-point eyes are half concealed. 

 Amphisbsena is probably nearly blind. These creatures exhibit 

 another interesting instance of relationship between the fauna 

 of South America and Tropical Africa. The genus Am$hisb&na 

 is represented on both sides of the tropical Atlantic in South 

 America and the West Indies on the one hand, and in Western 

 and Central Africa on the other. 



In the Liberian fauna are included the three types of 

 African Crocodiles, two of which are confined in their distribution 

 to the West Coast of Africa. The common African form 

 (Crocodilus niloticus) is fairly abundant in Liberian rivers and 

 lagoons, and exists in water that is quite brackish. I do not 

 think that the common crocodile grows to such a considerable 

 length, however, in this part of West Africa as in the great 

 rivers and lakes of the interior. But it is said to be dangerous 

 to human life in Liberia, and to seize and drag under water 



816 



