996 



REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1898. 



calls to miud that of the Carphophiops amccnus of Say. It is, however, 

 much larger, and the scales are very strongly carinated. The cariuae 

 are found on all the longitudinal rows of scales, of which there are 

 nineteen exclusive of the belly scales. The external row is almost as 

 sharply keeled as those on the back, even to the tij) of the tail. The 

 dorsal scales are narrow and elongated; the sides nearly parallel except 

 near the ends. As already stated, the head is very small, the vertical 

 plate is subhexagonal, the two anterior sides forming a very obtuse 

 angle; the external edges are very convergent posteriorly. The nos- 

 trils in the middle of the two plates. There are one anteorbital and 

 two postorbitals ; there are six labials above and seven below, in addi- 

 tion to the rostrals. The ground color of this snake is a light purplish 

 brown, with four rows of large, nearly circular, blotches covering the 

 whole back and sides. They are arranged so as to alternate; the outer 



blotches on the outer row 

 are a little larger than 

 those on the two central 

 ones, and are of the width 

 offour or five scales. The 

 belly is of a pale brick 

 red, fading to brownish 

 yellow in alcohol, with 

 a well-defined blotch of 

 black near the exterior 

 of each scale. These give 

 rise to a series of very 

 well-defined round black 

 spots ou either side of 

 the abdomen, and there 

 is also an obscure series 

 of dark blotches on the 

 anterior edge of the scales in the exterior dorsal row. The dots in this 

 series are separated by intervals of two unmarked scales. The spots of 

 this row alternate with those of the larger series immediately above. 



On separating the scales the skin is seen to be colored like the adja- 

 cent scales. It is black in the dark blotches and very light in the 

 intermediate space, giving rise to the appearance of a whitish edge to 

 the scales. There are thus four series of large spots ou the back and 

 sides, two on the belly, and two on the exterior dorsal rows, making 

 eight in all. The last-mentioned row is sometimes very obscure, the 

 others are always distinct. Keuuicott referred this serpent to the 

 genus Tropidonotus {Matrix), although it is different from the known 

 species. It is somewhat like the W. rigida, but is differently marked, 

 the latter having the two abdominal rows of spots close together on the 

 middle of the belly instead of being separated. Neither is there any 

 indication in N. rigida of the four series of dorsal blotches. In fact 

 there is no North American species more strongly marked than this. 



rig. 266. 



Natbix kirtlandii Kennicott. 



X 1.5. 



"West Nortlifleltl, Illinois. 



Cat. No. 1514, U.S.N.M. 



