1112 



REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1898. 



frontals separated from the second upper labial by tlie postnasal. Kos- 

 tril in the postmargiu of the prenasal. Eyes very small and circular. 

 Superciliaries j)roportionally smaller and narrower than in T. coronata. 

 One anteorbital and one postorbital, both angular. Mouth deeply 

 cleft. Upper labials six; fifth and sixth equal, larger than the rest; 

 third and fourth beneath the eye, entering slightly into the orbit ante- 

 riorly and jjosteriorly. Temporal shields two, narrow and elongated. 

 Body slender and subcylindrical, covered above with subrhomboidal or 

 elliptical and smooth scales, constituting fifteen rows; outer row but 

 slightly larger than the three or four succeeding rows. Tail very 

 slender. 

 Ground color uniform greenish brown, lighter beneath. Head darker. 



Cat. No. 4500; rows of scales, 15; upper labials, 6; gastrosteges, 129 -f- 1; urosteges, 

 45; total length, 144 mm. ; tail, 34 mm. 



The individual on which was based the T. hallowellii differs from the 

 usual form in having a longer muzzle, so that the postnasal and pre- 



ocular scuta do not touch, ])ermit- 

 ting the contact of the postfrontal 

 and labial scuta. The first tempo- 

 ral also separates the fourth and 

 fifth superior labials more exten- 

 sively than usual. To the latter 

 character I find ajjproaches in sev- 

 eral specimens, but the former is 

 repeated on one side of one speci- 

 men only, which is from San 

 Diego, southwestern Texas. 1 

 think the supposed species represents only an extreme individual vari- 

 ation. In Cat. No. 21218 there is a small inferior postocular on one side. 

 This species is common in southwestern Texas. 



Tantilla gracilis Baird and Girard. 



Fig. 318. 



Tantilla gracilis Baird and Gibaed. 



X2. 



Dallas, Texas. 



rollection of E. D. Cope. 



