NOBLE: THE RESIDENT BIRDS OF GUADELOUPE. 361 
the coast of Guadeloupe and extend over the whole of Grande Terre. 
These regions are now for the most part under cane cultivation. A 
few swift flowing streams cross the plantations, but only the Grande 
Riviére in the north is navigable for more than a few hundred yards. 
The monotony of the grasslands is broken on the east coast by small 
stands of timber and on the west coast by broad outcrops of volcanic 
rocks. Marshes are rare in this belt and ponds even more so. On 
Grande Terre the soil is sandy and calcareous and the absence of 
water makes a hot and dusty landscape. 
(2) Uplands of hardwood forest. The savannahs merge gradually 
into the uplands which are generally covered with medium sized 
deciduous trees. This belt varies in width from one to four miles and 
in several places such as at Ste. Marie, Ste. Rose, and Trois Riviéres 
it encroaches through the grassland area and extends to the ocean. 
(3) Rain forest. The dense tropical forest starts abruptly at about 
1500 ft. and covers the greater part of the central region of Guadeloupe 
proper. Itis almost impenetrable. While its bird fauna is character- 
istic, the number of species is small. 
(4) Mountain barrens. Lastly the wind swept country abovey 
the tree line begins at about 4000 feet. It covers relatively a very 
small proportion of the island and is almost devoid of life. 
THe VERTEBRATE FAUNA. 
The vertebrates are represented in Guadeloupe by a very small 
number of species. An agouti (Dasyprocta noblet G. M. Allen), 
a racoon (Procyon minor Miller) and four or five species of bats com- 
prise the entire indigenous mammalian fauna. The introduced 
Mongoose (Mungos birmanicus (Thomas)) is everywhere abundant — 
and it is due to its depredations that the land vertebrates are so 
rapidly disappearing. The Anolis ferreus Cope is the commonest 
reptile. Iguana delicatissima Laurenti, and the Ground Lizard 
(Ameiva cineracea Barbour & Noble) are found today only on the small 
islands off the coast. A skink (Mabuya maboia Duméril & Bibron) 
may likewise have been completely extirpated from the mainland of 
Guadeloupe by the Mongoose. Two geckos, Sphaerodactylus fan- 
tasticus (Duméril & Bibron) and Thecodactylus rapicaudus (Houttuyn) 
because of their secretive habits are not commonly found, but they 
may be locally abundant. The two snakes, Typhlops lumbricalis 
