CROCODILIANS, LIZARDS, AND SNAKES. 



923 



tlic dorsal line bej;ius aoaiii, and ends at the tip of the tail. At dis- 

 tances of four and seven scales l)elo\v this doi'sal line, on both sides, are 

 indications of lines, which are nearly comi)lete in one of the specimens; 

 in others they are broken into whitish blotches longitudinally arranged. 

 Color of head and upper part of body pitchy, kistrous black; middle, 

 lower third, and tail l)lackish brown. 



This subspecies presents a very different facies from the 0. getulus 

 hoyUi. The head and neck resemble O. (j. hnyVtiux markings and coloia- 

 tioD, but the appearance of the body and tail is entirely different. 



Upper labial 



Cat. No; 

 11788. 

 13888. 



Gastrosteges. Urosteges. Scales. 

 233. 58. 23. 



246. 53. 23. 



OphiboJus gefiilus californiir De Blainville. 



The transition between this form and the O. g. boyUi is accomplished 

 by specimens Cat. Nos. 11747-87. In these the crossbands are numer- 

 ous; in the former there are four on the anterior part of the body and 

 seven on the posterior part anterior to the tail, the latter being also 

 crossbanded. In Cat. No. 11787 a longitudinal median stripe extends 

 through much of the length, but the sides have vertical blotches rep- 

 resenting the corresponding crossbands on the 0. //. hoyUi. 



In De Blainville's type of this species there are no transverse bands, 

 and the lateral stripes are but little interrupted. The dorsal stripe is, 

 on the other hand, interrupted at several points. 



In a specimen without locality in the T". S. National Museum, the 

 body and tail are black above and yellowish-white below. A pure 

 white stripe runs on the vertebral line from the nape to the end of the 

 tail, and another on the first and second rows of scales on the anterior 

 four-tifths of the length. ^Mr. Van Denburgh describes a specimen from 

 Cape St. T.ucas which is black above and below, including the head, 

 except a cinnamon-colored vertebral stripe and some cinnamon-colored 

 spots on the nape and on the superior aspect of the tail, where the 

 stripe is wanting. , 



