THE REPTILES OF OHIO 251 



706). Defiance CouNTr': 1 mi. SW of Defiance (OSM 750). Favette County: 



Washinoton Court House (WED 192). Franklin County: Alum Creek, Columbus 



(OSM 906); Columbus (OSM 754, 827, 862.1-41). Greene County: Glen Helen, 

 Yellow Springs (WFD 256) ; near Orion Pool (DPLM 655.44) ; 6 mi. W of Yel- 

 low Sprin"s (USNM 128926). Hamilton County: Coy Field, Cincinnati (UC 

 9A-B); Clifton, Cincinnati (CSNH 2659 albmo) ; Delhi (UC 6A-B). HardiN 

 County: 3 m\. E of Mt. Victory (WED 140). Hocking County: 2 mi. NW of 

 Gibisonville (WED 351). Jackson County: (HTG— 3 specs.; OUVC 130, 568); 

 Jackson Twp. (OUVC 354, 359. 361, 363-4, 567). Logan County: East side of 

 Indian Lake (WED 139, 148); 2 mi. S of Indian Lake (WED 370); Pony Island. 

 Indian Lake (WED 145). LuCAS CoUNTY: (UMMZ 83829); Uttle Cedar Point 

 (OSM 545, 639, 646.1-2— all melanist.c; OSM 646.3-4); Toledo (CA 5288-9— both 

 melanistic). Marion County: Western part of Marion (OSM 638). Miami Coun- 

 ty: Near Covinoton (WED 371); Ludlow Falls (DPLM 7.43; WED 198); near 

 West Milton (USNM 128925). Montgomery County: Dayton (DPLM 113-6.42, 

 218-20.42, 245-55.42, 4.43, 6.43, 14.43, 88.44, 371-2.44. 670-86.44; WED 147; 

 USNM 128931-63); north of Dayton (DPLM 71.44); Englewood Dam. Randolph 

 Twp. (DPLM 83.42. 124.42, 210.42, 407.44, 640-3.44. 656.44; WED 138. 172; 



USNM 128927-30); Miami River at Northridge (DPLM 72 4.45); Oakwood. Van 

 Buren Twp. (Wood & Duellman. 1947b). Ottawa Count^': Winous Point. Bay 

 Twp. (UMMZ 95972A-B. 95973— all melanistic). PiCK.AWAY County: Jackson 

 Twp. (OSM 824); V/-> mi. NW of LaurelvilL (WED 339). Pike County: Mor- 

 gantown (WED 175)."Preble County: Near Camden (MU 18); West Elkton 

 (MU 23). Scioto County: Nile Twp. (OSM 770). Shelby County: Sidney 

 (WED 202). Union County: 3 mi. S of Mt. Victory (WED 144). Vinton 

 County: Lake Hope (OUVC 2373). Warren County: 1 mi. W of Waynesville 

 (WED 282). Wood County: 1 mi. N of West Millgrove (UMMZ 98772). Wyan- 

 dot Countv': Pitt Twp. (OSM 543.1-4). County not Stated: Buckeye Lake 

 (OUVC 1322. 1825). 



The "aberrant" specimen (TZS 767) reported upon page 103 is actually 

 identifiable as Thamnophis radix, and it was the only individual of its species 

 that was .-'.vailable from Ohio when the original report was published. The 

 error resulted chieflv from two causes — failure to record the maximum num.ber 

 of scale rows (the snake has 21, but was listed in my notes .as having 19) and 

 the fact that radix was totally unexpected so far east of its (then) known 

 range. The locality for 2 mi. SW of Upper Sandusky, Wyandot County, 

 should be deleted from both the list and the distribution map. 



Although the presence of 21 rows of scales is one of the chief diagnostic 

 characteristics of radix, there is at least one specimen of sirtalis from Ohio 

 (UC 6A from Delhi, Hamilton County) that has a maximum of that number. 

 This is a relatively large specimen in which the dorsal scale formula is 21-19- 

 17; counts of 21 can be made upon the anterior third of the body. There is 

 some dark pigment on the lower labials and considerable on the upper ones, 

 but this appears to be an ''overflow" from the head — it is not distributed as 

 in radix. The paired dark spots on the belly in the Delhi snake are negligible, 

 and the lateral light stripes are situated upon the second and third rows of 

 scales. Counts have been made upon only a few recently-collected garter 

 snakes; hence, there may be others exhibiting maxima of 21 scale rows. The 

 presence of such aberrant snakes in otherwise normal populations illustrates 

 one of the difficulties encountered in attempting to construct keys for the iden- 

 tification of specimens, and, conversely, the futility of expecting such keys to 

 work in the case of every individual reptile. 



