232 REPTILES OF MASSACHUSETTS. 



which are quadrilateral, the largest being above ; the inferior 

 orbital are five, and the posterior orbital three iri number, all 

 of which are quadrilateral. The upper jaw has six lateral 

 plates, quadrilateral, and increasing in size to the sixth, which 

 is largest. The nostrils are very large, near the snout, and 

 lateral. The eyes are large, the pupils dark, the iris light 

 gray. The neck is nearly the size of the head when he is 

 quiet, but when roused or irritated he flattens it more than 

 twice its ordinary breadth. The body is elongated, thick, 

 rounded above, but flattened at the abdomen, covered with 

 scales strongly carinated above, the three inferior lateral rows 

 being ecarinate, and with plates below. The tail is long, nar- 

 row, and terminating in a point, with scales or bifid plates on 

 its under surface. 



Color. The head above is dusky, with a light band be- 

 tween the orbits : behind the occiput is a dark spot ; a dark 

 band begins at the back of each nostril, which increases in size 

 as it descends, and forms a large blotch on the side of the neck. 

 The body is olive-brown, or sometimes brownish yellow, and 

 marked with a triple series of black or dark gray spots : those 

 of the vertical series being subquadrate and elongated trans- 

 versely ; the spots of the lateral rows are rounded, and many 

 of them correspond with those of the vertebral line, while oth- 

 ers alternate with them. Sometimes the spots of the lateral 

 and vertebral lines are confluent, so as to give the appearance 

 of bands. 



Dimensions. Length of the head, 1 1-2 inches ; breadth of 

 the head, when not disturbed, 1 inch ; length of the body, 27 

 inches ; length of the tail, 5 inches ; circumference of the 

 body, 4 1-2 inches. In the individual here described, there 

 were one hundred and forty-four abdominal plates entire, and 

 two bifid plates near the vent ; and forty-two pair of subcaudal 

 scales." 



