BRANSON : SNAKES OF KANSAS. 



375 



Fig. 9. 

 Heterodon platyrhinus Latr. 



The following are the scutellation and dimensions of four speci- 

 mens from Douglas county in the Kansas University museum : 



Color above brown to black. Black specimens are rare. A 

 dorsal series of dark quadrate blotches separated by interspaces 

 of one to two scales. Margins between blotches and inter- 

 spaces frequently white. Small dark oval to round blotches 

 alternate with the dorsal. Two black blotches on the nape. 

 Belly greenish to yellowish white, occasionally black. Top of 

 head lighter than dorsal blotches. A black line across pre- 

 frontals and preoculars joins the anterior angles of the orbits. 

 A black line crosses the superciliaries and the base of the 

 frontal, joining the posterior angles of the orbits. The snout 

 is much lighter brown than the top of the head. Upper labials 

 yellowish, widely margined with bluish brown and dotted with 

 dark brown. Last labial brown. Chin and throat yellowish. 



Body short and stout. Tail short. This is the largest of 

 the Heterodontes . I have examined specimens three feet long. 



