CHOCODILIANS, LIZARD8, AND SNAKES. 1059 



in .seventeen rows, and fouiteeii in nineteen rows, in some of those 

 with nineteen rows the additional row extends but a short distance on 

 each side, so that for all but a small part of the length there are seven- 

 teen rows. In thirteen individuals there is but one preocular on each 

 side; in two there are one on one side and two on tlie other, and in 

 eleven individuals there are two on each side. Two i)reoculars prevail 

 in the spotted ty])es, for of eight of these but three have a single pre- 

 ocular. Five of the bhudc and well-strii)ed specimens liave two preocu- 

 lars on both sides, and two have two on one side and one on the other, 

 while all of the uniform colored specimens, whether light or dark, have 

 but one preocular on both sides. The grooving of the preocular region 

 is generally, but not invariably, present. In several specimens the sec- 

 ond or third rows of temporals are represented by a single plate, 

 appropriately to the small size of the head. 



The color varieties are as follows : Brown, with blackish spots, moder- 

 ately distinct stri])es (eleven specimens); black, with the dorsal and 

 generally the lateral stripe well defined (eight specimens); black, with 

 stripes and spots very indistinct (five specimens); black with dorsal 

 stripe only {JE. atrata) (one specimen); uniform brownish or olive (three 

 specimens). 



These forms have no distinct geographical range, examples of all of 

 them coming from Tuget Sound. As a whole, the species belongs to the 

 Pacific coast, not south of San Francisco. How far east it ranges is not 

 known, but I have never seen it from central Oregon or Washington. 

 One specimen (Cat. ^STo. 5208) in the U. S. National Museum collection 

 is marked as coming from the " Eocky Mountains." 



An interesting series of eight specimens was obtained by Mr, S. N. 

 Ehoads — five from Tacoma and three from Victoria, British Columbia. 

 He did not obtain it from any locality east of the latter point. In my 

 paper on the " Characters and variations of the snakes of IS^orth Amer- 

 ica,"^ I state that of the specimens in the U. S. IS^ational Museum 

 rather less than half have two preocular plates, and one-half have seven- 

 teen and the other half nineteen rows of scales. Of the eight specimens 

 brought by Mr. Ehoads, six have two and two have three preoculars, 

 one of the latter coming from Tacoma and one from Victoria; six have 

 seventeen rows of scales and two have nineteen, both the latter from 

 Tacoma. The distinctive characters of the species are thus confirmed. 

 The ground color in two of the Tacoma specimens is black and the 

 others brown. All of the Victoria specimens are brown, and two of 

 them have a red dorsal stripe. 



1 Proc. U. S, Nat. Mus,, XIV, 1892, p. 



(JGO, 



