CROCODILIANS, LIZARDS, AND SNAKES. 



749 



DIADOPHIS AMABILIS AMABILIS Baird and Girard. 



Diadophis amahilis Baird and Girard, Cat. N. A. Kept., 1853, p. 113. 

 The following descriptioi) is tliat of P>air(l and (liraid, taken from the 

 typical specimens: 



Color above blackish brown down to the gaatrosteges. 



Head, body, and tail very slender; head flattened al)ove; body snbcylindrieal; 

 tail siibconical and tapering into a point. Vertical plate subpentagoual, less taper- 

 ing i)osteriorly than in />. punctatnn, and 

 subacute. Occipitals narrow and elon- 

 gated. Frontals as in />. punctatus. Su- 

 perciliaries narrower and nearly of the 

 same width throughout their length. 

 Upper labials, seven; sixth largest. 

 Lowerlabials, eight ; iifth largest. Scales 

 rather short, subelliptical, considerably 

 larger on the sides than on the back, es- 

 peciall}^ the outer row. Color of the ab- 

 domen extending to the outer row of 

 scales, the posterior portion of which 

 alone is black. Nutiierous 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, as well as the labials of both jaws 

 and chin, are blackish brown. The abdomen, in life, is in all probaliilities purplish, 

 judging of it from traces of that color left beneath the tail of one of the specimens 

 preserved in alcohol. 



Ciastrosteges. Urosteges. Scales. Length. Tail. 

 San Jose, California (Dr. J. L. LeConte) 182-f 1. 59. 15. 12*. 2^. 



do — — 15. 9*. 2. 



Two specimens from Fresno, California, have the superior labials 

 brown with darker brown spots, and may represent this form. They 

 are of darker color above than either the I), a. docilis or D. a. pulclielhis, 

 resembling" the i). piDictatus. This color is, however, only present on 

 the apex of the scales of the first row in one specimen, and on the 

 apices of those of the first and second on the other, thus approaching 

 the I), a. jmlchellus. The abdominal spots are large, ijumerous, and 

 irregular. 



Diadophis amahilis amahilis Baird and Girard. 



Fig. 160. 



Diadophis AMABILIS amabilis Baikd and Girakd. 



X 2. 



San Jose, California. 



Cat. No. 'J061, U.S.N.M. 



