1915.] NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA. 149 



as those with the typical red ventral coloration, and that this albin- 

 istic character is not solely an adult or young variation. 



8. That our specimens of Heterodon platyrhinus are one-third 

 plafyrhinus, one-third intermediate and one-third niger; that possibly 

 7iiger is an adult end phase, and that one platyrhinus specimen agrees 

 perfectly with Heterodon brownii Stejneger,- both in the absence of 

 the azj^gous plate and in coloration. 



9. That the two specimens of Storeria dekayi have not 17, but 

 15 rows of scales, like S. occipitomaculata, and one of the two speci- 

 mens has the oculars not 1-2, but 2-2, as usual in the red-bellied 

 species, the lone representative of which has the ocular formula 3-2. 



10. That the range of the southern ribbon snake, T. s. sackeni, 

 is not restricted on the Atlantic coast to Florida. 



11. That C. horridus of the Okefinokee is distinctly the light 

 canebrake form of this species. 



1. Faraucia abacura (Holbrook): Horn Snake; Red-bellied Snake; Hoop Snake; Rainbow 

 Snake; Mud Snake; Checkered Snake. 



Three specimens were taken, and from native accounts it appar- 

 ently is fairly common, but hard to secure. In distribution this 

 species reaches from Virginia to Florida and from Indiana and 

 Illinois to Louisiana and rarely into Texas. The nearest records 

 are from AUapaha, Ga., to the northwest, and from Gainesville, 

 Fla., to the direct south. 



Coloration. — The horn snake is one of the most beautiful snakes 

 of North America. The ground color is a blue-black, the smooth 

 and shining scales have an enamelled surface, and the gastrosteges 

 and the scales along the sides have a fluted appearance. Every 

 labial, mental and gular plate has a blue-black spot in its middle. 

 The color of the back extends to the gastrosteges in vertical bars or 

 inverted triangles, the apices being on the gastrosteges. Usually, 

 at each one of these apices appears an oblong spot, and in the cephalic 

 half of the body, the venter, as a result, presents a row of these 

 spots on either end of the gastrosteges, thus giving a distinct light- 

 colored band down the middle. In the caudal half of the body the 

 vertical bars of opposite sides usually meet or alternate on the 

 mid-ventral line, producing a checkered appearance. The vertical 

 black bars are two scales wide at the end of the gastrosteges and 

 three or four scales wide on the 4th row of scales. The lighter 

 intervals between the dark bars are two scales wide at the end of 

 the gastrosteges and one wide at the 4th row of scales. Each gular 

 gastrostege has a black band across it. 



