746 



REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1898. 



the Pacific region, aud but two from east of the Mississippi Kiver. In 

 a specimen from Vera Cruz everything is normal except temporals 1-2; 

 the additional scale is small. In Cat. !N^o. 1898 the nuchal ring is nar- 

 rowly interrupted. 



JHadophis rei/alis arnyl Kennieott. 



Catalogue 



No. 



2077 



8602 



976G 



10086 



? 



16234-5 



16234-5 



Number 

 of speci- 

 mens. 



Locality. 



From whom received. 



Kansas S. Amy 



Rock Island, Illinois , J. B. Sargent 



Mouth of Cache Creek, | ? 



Colorado. 



Fort Mohave, Arizona Dr. O. Loew 



Webster City, Iowa ' Chas. Aldrich 



Hughes, Ohio . . K. T. Sheppherd 



Micador, Vera Cruz Dr. C. Sartorius. 



St. Louis, Missouri i J ulius H urter . . 



do I I. Knorte 



Nature of specimen. 



Alcoholic type 

 do. 

 do. 



do. 

 do. 

 do. 

 do. 



DIADOPHIS AMABILIS Baird and Girard. 



Biadophis amahilis Baird and Girard, Cat. N. Ainer. Kept., Ft. 1, Serp., 18-53, p. 113. 

 D. docilis Baird and Girard, Cat. N. Amer. Rept., Pt. 1, Serp., 1853, p. 114. 

 D.pulchellus Baird aud Girard, Cat. N. Amer. Rept., Pt. 1, Serp., 1853, p. 115. 

 D.j)unctatus var. stictogenys Cope, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Pbila., 1860, p. 250. 

 D. texeiisis Kennicott, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sfi. Phila., 18(50, p. 328. 

 Coronella amabilis Boulengkr, Cat. Snakes Brit. Mus., II, 1894, p. 207. 



Body above bluish slate color to deep blackish brown; beneath yellow- 

 ish wliite, with crowded small black spots. Occipital ring narrow. 

 Dorsal scales in 15 rows ; labial plates 7 above ; oculars, 2-2 ; temporals, 

 2-2-2. 



Head, body, and tail slender; head flattened above; body subcylin- 

 drical; tail subconical and tapering into a point. Frontal plate sub- 

 pentagonal, less tajiering posteriorly than in D.punctatus, and subacute. 

 Occipitals narrow and elongated. Prefrontals as in D. punctatus. 

 Superciliaries narrower and nearly of the same width throughout their 

 length. Upper labials, seven; sixth largest. Lower labials, eight; 

 fifth largest. Scales rather short, subelliptical, considerably larger on 

 the sides than on the back, especially the outer row. Numerous small 

 spots are scattered all over the lower part of the body, from the head 

 to near the end of the tail. The upper surface and sides of head are 

 blackish brown. The ground color of the abdomen is orange in life. 



This species exhibits the same range of color variation as in D. regalis, 

 with some exceptions. Thus there is a light bluish form and a blackish 

 form, the former western, the latter more eastern. I have seen no 

 specimen without a nuchal collar. The specimens are always smaller 

 aud more slender than the fully grown D. regalis. These forms are 

 distinguished as follows: 



Color above bluish, orange below and on two rows of scales D. a. pulcheUus. 



Color above bluish to the gastrosteges D. a. docilis. 



Color above blackish brown to the gastrosteges; labials brown; ventral spots 



irregular T). a. amabilis. 



Color above blackish to gastrosteges; labials yellow; ventral spots on three series. 



D. a. stictogenys. 



