The daily morning journal and courier., 1899-01-30
PORTO REGAIN FAUNA.

Wild Animals Are Rather Scarce in the
 Island-The Need of Game Laws
 Only Two Species of Snakes-Hum-
 ming Birds Are Numerous
 It IS somewhat disappointing, to say the least, to find our only really tropi- cal islands in adjacent American waters lacking in birds and mammals suitable TOT hunting. That is, it is disappoint- ing to the sportsman; though, "by the same token,' we find very few reptiles or large animals inimica1 to human well-being. The good St. Patrick might nave swept the island clean of snakes almost so far as serpents go, for, ex- ceptfng the rarely seen boa and a few adders, there is no species to be found. The boa, by the way, is rather benefi- cial than harmful, as it clears the plan- tations of rats, which, according to the statement of a Spanish author, would totally destroy all the plants and seeds were it not for the "Culebras cazad- oras,' or hunting snakes.
 These serpents, says the author of "Espana, SUI NaturaYeza Historia,' D are, on the average, from two to three yards in length, and have their burrows or dens in the steep banks of rivers or
  ways in the vincinity of huts or houses During the daytime they remain invisi- ble in their dens, but at night sally forth in search of their prey; and it is one of the sights of Porto Rico to wit ness their chase and capture of rats and mice. They enter the house and range through the rooms as we'll as over the roof, pursuing their squeaking quarry which, when seized, is borne away, the snake, with head in air, glid- ing easily along, despite the struggles of the rodent.
 A most destructive insect is that call ed the ''comejen,' the wood louse, or wood ant, which bores into timber and furniture and rapidly reduces it to powder. The ants have proved veritable ,-scourages to the island in the past. at one time causing the abandonment of the first settlement, Caparra; at the same time they have their uses. They march in long columns, sometimes nearly mile In length, the llargest and fiercest ants at the head, Invading all houses in their way, but devouring all the rats, centipedes scorpions, taran- tulas and other pests of the household, leaving behind them hardly a noxious thing of any kind.
 Then there are the 'niguas," the chigoes or jiggers, which burrow be- meath the skin of the toes and create fostering sores unless carefully guarded against.
 The most attractive insects are the "cucujos" or "frefies," the smallest species known as "lucernas" or glow worms, the largest as ''cucubanos' and which have side lights like coach- mans lamp It is already well known that these noctilucae are utilized by the women of Cuba and Porto Rico as brilliants by being encaged or enmesh- ed in lace or muslin and pinned about their dresses, where they flash and gleam like the diamonds of finest water It is an easy matter to read ordinary print by the light or one of these Sire flies if it be held near the paper or book, and by catching and confining a few of them in f1asks or vials a room may be illumined with soft and agree able. light.
 To digress a moment: The terrene territory of the island is not so abund- antly supplied with interesting denizens as the aqueous element surrounding it. Fish of every species known to tropic waters and of every hue, shape and quality disport themselves in the bays and channels between the islands and mouths of rivers. In the streams there are few species, but as the rivers are comparatively short-lived they cannot support large or numerous finny in- habitants Here are the names of few of the sea dwellers, as given by the author just quoted: Lisa sabalo (shad) pango, robalo (pream); cur