1835.] REPTILES. 381 
ing-thrush and Totanus, than any other species of the two genera. 
With the exception of a wren with a fine yellow breast, and of a 
tyrant fly-catcher with a scarlet tuft and breast, none of the birds 
are brilliantly coloured, as might have been expected in an equa- 
torial district. Hence it would appear probable, that the same 
causes which here make the immigrants of some species smaller, 
make most of the peculiar Galapageian species also smaller, as 
well as very generally more dusky coloured. All the plants have a 
wretched, weedy appearance, and I did not see one beautiful flower. 
The insects, again, are small sized and dull coloured, and, as 
Mr. Waterhouse informs me, there is nothing in their general 
appearance which would have led him to imagine that they had 
come from under the equator. -The birds, plants, and insects 
have a desert character, and are not more brilliantly coloured 
than those from southern Patagonia; we may, therefore, con- 
clude that the usual gaudy colouring of the intertropical pro- 
ductions, is not related either to the heat or light of those zones, 
but to some other cause, perhaps to the conditions of existence 
being generally favourable to life. 
We will now turn to the order of reptiles, which gives the 
most striking character to the zoology of these islands. The 
species are not numerous, but the numbers of individuals of each 
species are extraordinarily great. There is one small lizard 
belonging to a South American genus, and two species (and 
probably more) of the Amblyrhynchus——a genus confined to 
the Galapagos islands. There is one snake which is numerous; 
it is identical, as I am informed by M. Bibron, with the Psam- 
mophis Temminckii from Chile. Of sea-turtle I believe there 
is more than one species; and of tortoises there are, as we 
shall presently show, two or three species or races. Of toads 
and frogs there are none: I was surprised at this, considering 
how well suited for them the temperate and damp upper woods 
appeared to be. It recalled to my mind the remark made by 
Bory St. Vincent,* namely, that none of this family are found on 
* Voyage aux Quatre Iles d’Afrique. With respect to the Sandwich 
Islands, see Tyerman and Bennett’s Journal, vol. i., P: 434. For Mauritius 
see Voyage par un Officicr, &c., Parti, p.170. There are no frogs in the 
Canary Islands (Webb et Berthelot, Hist. Nat. des Iles Canaries). I saw 
none at St. Jago in the Cape de Verds, There are none at St. Helena, 
