800 



REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1898. 



orbital very large, extending far forward above, its upper angle reach 

 iug the angle of the vertical. Loreal rather large, higher than long. 

 Nasals moderate. Upper labials, eight; the sixth subtriaugular and 

 smaller; the seventh and eighth largest of all, elongated, equal. Lower 

 labials, nine, the fifth largest. 



Body very slender and attenuated. Dorsal rows of scales seventeen, 

 all smooth, elongated, even the exterior row longer than broad. 



Color anteriorly, above and on the sides black to light yellowish- 

 brown, this distinct for one fourth of the length, fading gradually and 

 becoming lighter to nearly white toward the tail. Behind the darker 

 portion the scales above are brownish-yellow at their basal margin, the 



Fig. 174. 



Zamenis flagelldm flagellum Shaw. 



= 1. 



Georgetown, South Oaroliua. 



Cat. No. 4461, U.S.N.M. 



rest of the scale more or less mottled with the different shades of 

 brown. The darkest tint is usually seen near the tip of the scales, this 

 on the tail forming a distinct margin. Beneath, the color is yellowish- 

 white, on the anterior fifth more or less blotched with brown or nearly 

 uniform brown, posterior to which it disappears more or less entirely, 

 being represented only by occasional dashes. The ends of each scutella, 

 however, on their margins exhibit the brownish or yellowish blotches, 

 and are colored much like the sides of the body at that place. Ante- 

 orbital njostly yellow; postorbital frequently so. 



The tail is about one-fourth the total length, but varies within the fol- 

 lowing range: Three and two-third times in total, Cat. No. 8175; three 

 and three fourths times, Cat. No. 17G8, and one from Mobile, Alabama, 

 collection of E. D. Cope; three and five sixths. Cat. Nos. 4388, 226406; 

 three and seven-eighths. Cat. Nos. 8859, 12G40fl, 9250; four. Cat. Nos. 

 2431, 2008, 2420; four and one-fifteenth, Cat. Nos. 11780, 2001; four and 

 one sixth. Cat. No. 4408. 



The scutal formula and measurements in inches are thus given by 

 Baird and Girard. 



