44 TRIGONOCEPHALUS ATRO-FUSCUS. 



orbital plates, rhomboidal, of which the superior is largest, and forms most of the 

 orbit behind. The upper jaw is covered with eight quadrilateral, labial plates. 



The nostrils are large, lateral, and near the snout. The eye is rather large, the 

 pupil elliptical, black, and the iris grey, tinged with yellow. The posterior part of 

 the head is covered with small hexagonal and not carinated scales, in which it 

 differs from the Trigonocephalus piscivorus. The neck is greatly contracted, and 

 the body, though elongated, is thick to the tail, which is short, cylindrical, slender, 

 and terminates in a horny tip. The superior surface of the back and tail is 

 covered by elongated, oval, and deeply carinated scales, with small points at their 

 base; the abdominal plates are large. 



Colour. The upper part of the head is dark brown, bordered with grey, which 

 becomes lighter behind the eyes, with a dark longitudinal spot reaching from the 

 orbit to the tympanal bones; the upper hp is white, terminating near the tip in 

 grey. The colour of the body is dusky, variegated with brown spots of smoky- 

 grey, broadest on the back, and disappear entirely near the tail, which is black. 

 The throat is marked with black and white, the latter colour predominating; the 

 belly is also irregularly spotted with black and white, darkest towards the tail, 

 and in all parts the white is minutely dotted with black. 



Dimensions. Length of head, 11 inches; breadth of head, If inches; length of 

 body, 20 inches; length of tail, 31 inches: total length, 25 inches. In the specimen 

 here described, there were 133 abdominal plates, and 25 sub-caudal, near the base 

 of the tail, and 18 bifid plates near its apex. 



Habits. The Trigonocephalus atro-fuscus is always found on dry land, in the 

 pine barrens and smiilar places, and never in water or swamps. "It is a vicious 

 animal, and its bite is very dangerous." 



Geographical Distribution. This reptile has as yet only been observed in 

 Tennessee. 



