SYNOPSES AND DESCRIPTIONS. 35 



lated, rarely grooved. Head-shields 8 — 9. Internasals 2 or fused. Nasal 

 grooved or divided. Loreal rarely present. Orbitals 1 — 2. Scales smooth, 

 lust runs, in 15 — 21 rows. Anal birid. Subeaudals in two rows. 

 Nasal grooved; 

 no loreal; 



scales in 19 rows; 



head-shields normal erythrogrammus. 



internasals fused abacurus. 



Nasal divided; 

 a loreal ; 



scales in 21 rows ; 



head-shields normal quiiiqucriffatus. 



Hydrops erythrogrammus. 



Coluber erythrogrammus Davdin, 1799, EM. Sept. VII, 93, Tab. 83,/. 2. 



Stout, round, subfusiform; head hardly distinct from neck, slightly 

 depressed, rounded; tail short, one sixth to one eighth of the total, thick, 

 tapering to a point. Snout moderate, rounded. Eye medium, over the 

 third and fourth labials, pupil round. Mouth deeply cleft, outline nearly 

 straight. Teeth larger backward. Head-shields normal. Rostral broad, 

 convex. Internasals small. Prefrontals broad, entering the orbit. Fron- 

 tal hexagonal, lateral sides nearly parallel. Anteorbital and loreal united. 

 Postorbitals two. Temporals 1+2. Labials 7, penultimate largest. In- 

 fralabials eight, fifth larger. Submentals two pairs, posterior smaller. 

 Scales smooth, glossy, in 19 rows, dorsal broad, outer broader than long. 

 Ventrals broad 167 — 185. Anal bifid, exceptionally entire. Subeaudals 

 38 to 50 pairs. 



Red or reddish brown, with four bands of lustrous dark-brown or black 

 from head to tail, each about three scales in width, separated by red spaces 

 of about one scale on the vertebral and the sixth rows on each flank. 

 Outer row, sometimes the first two or three rows, red. Lateral brown 

 band often narrowed, lower margin notched. A rounded spot of black 

 near each end of the ventrals. A row of spots along the middle of the 

 belly, sometimes broken or absent. Labials and chin-shields with central 

 spots of black. Head-shields more or less marked with red. Largest 

 specimen 39J inches in total; tail 5£ inches. Mississippi Valley and 

 eastward, as far north as Illinois and North Carolina. 



