24 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OF [Jan., 



Mr. Van Denburgh has examined a nnmber which have 2, 3, 

 and occasionally 1 preocular; sometimes 7 labials and 21-23 rows; 

 all these being from Washington and Oregon. jVllowing for 

 donbt as to the significance of these variations, the form may be 

 provisionally retained as a subspecies of E. elegans. 



Eutaenia elegans marciana B. and G. 



JS. Marciana B. and G. , I. c, 36 ; E. e. marciana Cope, I. c, 656, and 

 Eep. Nat. Mus., 1045 ; E. nigrolateris A. Brown, Proc. Acad. Phila., 

 1889, 421; T. ordinaius var. mai'cianus Boa\., I. c, I, 211. 



Largest of the subspecies; 21 rows of scales; upper labials 8; 

 temporals 1-2 (3); iDosterior chin shields rather longest; ventrals 

 149-163; subcaudals 53-85. Light brown or ashy; dorsal stripe 

 narrow and not always distinct ; laterals of the same shade, but 

 frequently merged into the belly color; spots distinct and conspicu- 

 ous, sometimes encroaching a little upon the stripes; belly light 

 with a dark spot at the base of each ventral near the end; nuchal 

 and parietal spots present; labials heavily bordered, and a con- 

 spicuous pale post-oral crescent. 



E. nigrolateris A. Brown was based upon an individual from 

 Tucson, the most striking character of which, apart from obvious 

 abnormalties, was the extension of the preocular upward to meet the 

 frontal. Since then I have examined several marciana which 

 exhibit a tendency in this direction. 



Hab. — Central Texas to western Arizona. 



Eutaenia elegans couchi Kennicott. 



E. coucltii Kenn., Pac. E. R. Rep., 10 (1857), and E. hammondii 

 Kenn., Proc. Acad. Phila., 1860, 332; E. e. couchii Cope, I. c, 656, 

 and Rep. Nat. Mus., 1042 ; T. ordinatus vars. couchii and ham- 

 mondii Boul., I. c, I, 210 ; Thamnophis hammondii y am Den., I. c, 

 212. 



Moderately stout; 21 rows of scales (occ. 19); upper labials 8 

 (rarely 7); posterior chin shields longest; ventrals 159-173; 

 subcaudals 68-85. Grayish brown, dark brown or olive; dorsal 

 stripe narrow, indistinct or absent; lateral stripe not very distinct; 

 spots almost always absent, although a few black dots are some- 

 times visible on the scales; belly yellowish to black; labials dark 

 bordered; nuchal blotches present; post-oral crescent less distinct 

 than in marciana. 



Hab. — California and Arizona. 



