CROCODILIANS, LIZARDS, AND SNAKES, 1187 



five longitudinal rows, all keeled, the two rows on each side next the 

 shields of the abdomen (gastrosteges) faintly. 



The ground color above varies from bright yellowish tawny or ful- 

 vous to dark brown; beneath from whitish yellow to black gray. A 

 light line extends from the superciliary plate to the angle of the mouth, 

 behind which is a dark band or blotch. Upon each side of the medial 

 dorsal line there are two series of brown or black spots. The spots of 

 the upper or medial series are larger, rhomboid, running obliquely 

 upward and backward. They are frequently confluent across the 

 middle line of the back anteriorly; always upon the posterior half of 

 the body. The spots of the lower series encroach slightly ui)on the 

 gastrosteges, and posteriorly unite with those of the middle series to 

 form zigzag cross bands. Anteriorly they sometimes alternate with 

 the central series, or rather become confluent with an indefinite alter- 

 nating series, and joining the extremities of the former inclose the 

 ground color, which thus forms a series of light spots. Of these trans- 

 verse bands or rows of spots there are twenty one, more or less, from 

 the head to the anus. In Southwestern specimens a narrow rufous 

 band frequently extends along the median dorsal line throughout the 

 whole length. Tail nearly always entirely black. 



This species is found from Maine to Kansas and from Louisiana to 

 Florida. 



Cat. Nos. Scales. Upper Gastrosteges. TJrosteges. Length. Tail. Rattle. 



labials. jnwi. mm. mm. 



244 25. 13. 168 + 1. 24. 1,318. 115. 15. 



245 23. 166+1. 25. 



246 23. 168 + 1. 18. 



247 23. 165 + 1. 25. 



1299 25. 165. 25. 



932U (no rattle) 25. 14. 178. 25. 1,220. 100. 



The largest individual of this species which I have seen is from near 

 Fort Macon, North Carolina, Its length is 5 feet and its diameter 

 that of the full sleeve of an ordinary house coat. 



This species has the widest range of all the species excepting the 

 tropical C durissus. It was formerly abundant in the eastern district 

 everywhere, but it has been exterminated from the well-settled regions 

 and is only abundant in the wilder regions. It is not uncommon about 

 Lake George in northern New York and in the Berkshire Hills in western 

 Massachusetts. Thence it is to be found throughout the Alleghany 

 Mountains to Georgia and Alabama, 1 have not seen a specimen from 

 Florida. 



