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Show 1 9 0 5 .] ON MEXICAN AMPHIBIANS AND REPTILES. 1 91 The Larks and Pipits were, on the whole, very scarce. An extremely handsome Glossy Starling was a very conspicuous bird, which seemed to like the neighbourhood of camps. The Whitenecked Crow and the fine Razor-billed Raven were especially common in the west; and it was in the cattle country and on the Ruchigga Mountains that the Tick-birds (Buphaga) were observed, although some were seen following large herds of elands in Bukanga and Mpororo, and the rhinoceros in Karagwe. Perhaps the most noticeable feature in the bird-life was the extraordinary number of Francolins of every species to be seen in Bukanga. Every valley and almost every patch of dry grass appeared to contain a large number of these birds. In the evenings, when the grass had been burnt in patches, numbers of Francolins could be observed feeding in the open like pheasants outside a cover in September at home. It would have been easy to have shot forty or fifty brace a-day if time and cartridges had been available. 2. The Distribution o£ Mexican Amphibians and Reptiles. By H a n s G a d o w , F.R .S ., F.Z.S. [Received May 17, 1905.] (Text-figures 29-32.) C o n t e n t s . Introduction, p. 191. List of Species collected by H. G., p. 193. Physical Features of the Localities, p. 196. Review of the Distribution of Caecilia, p. 199. „ „ Urodela, p. 200. Summary, p. 204. „ „ Anura, p. 205. „ p. 208. „ „ Crocodilia, p. 209. „ p. 209. „ „ Ohelonia, p. 209. „ p. 210. „ „ Lacertilia, p. 211. „ p. 220. „ „ Ophidia, p. 222. „ p. 226. Distribution according to Altitude, p. 227. List of Species occurring in High Altitudes, p. 232. General Conclusions :-Evolution of Middle America, p. 234. Immigration and Spreading, p. 238. Northern and Southern Immigrants, p. 241. I n t r o d u c t io n . These investigations are based upon a considerable material which it is convenient to enumerate:- 1. The volume on Reptilia and Batracliia, by Dr. Gunther, of the ‘ Biologia Centrali-Americana,' with its thousands of references to localities. 2. Cope's posthumous work, ‘ The Crocodilia, Lizards, and Snakes of North America,' Rep. U.S. National Museum for 1898. 3. Boulenger's Catalogue, with the lists of ever-increasing additions, of the Collection in the British Museum of Natural History. 4. Collections made by Dr. Meek during his ichthyological |
