CROCODILIANS, LIZARDS, AND SNAKES. 755 



fifi. Five labials in contact with prej;eneials. 



Gastrostegcs " 145-183 ; " frontal and .supraoculars wider; banded, j^ellow 

 head bauds not black-edged A'. vHtata Jan. 



Gastrostegcs " 117-137;" froutal and supraocular plates nirrowcr; yel- 

 low head bands black-bordered Ji. decorata Giinther. 



III. Scales in 19 rows. 



(Eight sujierior labials; pregeneials joining five labials.) 



Frontal wider, supraocular suture wider than anterior suture ; scuta 164 + 78 ; 



brown, with six longitudinal pale stripes U. serperaatra Co^ie. 



Frontal narrower, anterior suture shorter than supraocular; scuta 155-183-}- 

 51-60; brown, scales darker-edged ; scuta yellow, black-edged. 



It. ohtiisa (_!()pe. 



IV. Scales in 21 rows. 



No pseudopreocular ; superior labials eight; four inferior labials joining pre- 

 geneials; froutal wide; pale brown with 3-5 longitudinal stripes. 



L'. (lodmanli Giinther. 



The distribution of this species is as follows : 



Neotropical Species. 



Continental: E. nielanauchen; B. occipttalis ; R. affinis ; E. pcccilopogon; E. ohtusa. 

 Central American : /•'. vermiculaticeps ; E. fulriceps ; E.lachrymans ; E. serperastra; 

 E. godmanii. 



Medicolumbian Species. 



Toltecan : E. laureata ; E. decorata; E. vittata; E. fulnivittis. 

 Austroriparian : E. favilatus. 



Tlie.se snakes are of feeble organization and small to medium size. 

 They usually display brilliant colors, which are soou lost in alcohol. 



RHADINiEA LAUREATA Giinther. 



Ehadinaa laureata Cope, Journ. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1875, p. 140. — Boulenger, 



Cat. Snakes Brit. Mus., IJ, 1894, p. 179. 

 Dromicus laureatus Giinther, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (4), I, 1868, p. 419, pi. xix, 



fig. E; Biol. Centr.-Amer., Rept., 1893, p. 112, pi. XL, fig. A. — Bocourt, Miss. 



Sci. Mex., Rept., 1890, p. 710, pi. xlv, fig. 1. 



The following description is copied from Giinther, as no specimen has 

 come into my hands: 



Scales smooth, in seventeen rows, many with a small apical groove. Form of the 

 head as in Coronella hvvia; body and tail mi)der:itely slender. Eye of moderate 

 size; the rostral does not extend to tlie upper surfaces of the head ; anterior frontals 

 scarcely half as large as posterior; vertical longer than the snout, but shorter than 

 the occipitals, which are rounded behind; loreal square; one prcorbital, reaching 

 to the upper surface of the head, but not extending on to the vei-tical; two post- 

 oculars; seven upper labials, the third and fourth entering the orbit; temporals 

 1 + 24-3, the anterior in contact Avith both ])Ost()culars; two pairs of chiu-shields, 

 nearly equal in length; veutralsl63; anal bifid; subcaudals 95. 



A lead-colored baud, three scales broad, runs from the nape, along the median 

 line of the back, to the end of the tail; flanks reddish, with a very indistinct gray- 

 ish streak along the fourth outer series of scales ; two yellow lines across the rostral, 

 the lower runs along the upper labials and across the neck, thus entirely encircling 

 the head; the upper runs along the cauthus rostralis, and stops or terminates in the 

 temporal region. Lower parts uniform yellowish. 



One specimen was in a <'ollection made by Dr. Doorman, in the neighborhood of 

 the City of Mexico. It is 21 inches long; head 6 lines; tail 7 inches. 



