TROPIDONOTUS ORDINATUS. 47 



Geographical Distribution. This animal inhabits the southern states, as far 

 north as Maryland; beyond this I have no evidence of its existence. 



General Remarks. The first positive notice of this serpent may be seen in 

 Catesby's History of Carolina, &c., where it is described and figm-ed as the 

 Green Spotted Snake. The figure is tolerable, though it represents the animal 

 with a well-marked light-coloured vertebral line, which certainly is not very 

 common. 



Catesby says it grows to nearly four times the size of his figure, which would 

 make it a serpent of nearly four feet in length. He is doubtful about considering 

 it difterent from the Spotted Riband-snake (PI. li.), which latter I have not been 

 able to identify certainly with any of our serpents, though it seems most to 

 resemble the Tropidonotus Dekayi. Catesby, as usual with most of his snakes, 

 makes it a "great robber of hen-roosts — sucking eggs," &c., which is doing great 

 injustice to the animal. 



Daudin says, "without doubt the Couleuvre biponctuee of Bosc must be referred 

 to this animal," to which I can by no means consent, never yet having seen the 

 two occipital spots that characterize the animal described by Bosc, while they are 

 always present in the Tropidonotus sirtalis, which was most probably the serpent 

 from which he took his description of the Coluber bipunctatus. 



