Reptiles and Amphibians of Illinois. 277 



the vent dividing the spots into two. Subcaudals each with a 

 basal black spot. 



Total length, 15.12; tail 1.37. 



Described from a single example* from Urbana, 111., col- 

 lected April 4, 1889, the only representative of the species 

 which has thus far been found within our limits. The species 

 is said to occur from Kansas to Texas, and is not included in 

 any of the accounts of species of this region. In Dr. Yarrow's 

 catalogue of North American reptiles in the National Museum, 

 I find record of an example taken at Hughes, Ohio, April, 1879, 

 a record which seems to have escaped the attention of recent 

 writers. The Illinois example differs from Hallowell's descrip- 

 tion of the type in several respects, and does not agree exactly 

 with other des_criptions with which it has been compared. 

 Thus the abdominal plates are said to vary from 138 to 145, 

 the subcaudals from 32 to 35 pairs, while the eye is said to rest 

 on the third and fourth supralabials. In none of these char- 

 acters does our example agree exactly, as may be seen by the 

 above description. The colors also of the Illinois specimen 

 seem to be darker than usual. 



Storeria, Bd. and Gik. 



Bd. and Gir., Cat. N. A. Kept., Ft. I., 1853, p. 185. 



Dum. et Bibr., Ischnognathus, Erp. (It^n., VII., 1851, p. 506. 



Dorsal scales carinated, in fifteen to seventeen rows. 

 Anal plate divided. Rostral normal. Two internasals. Two 

 prefrontals. Two nasals, or one with a groove beneath the 

 nostril. One or two anteorbitals. One or two postorbitals. 

 Ovoviparous. Small, obscurely-colored species. 



The nostril is commonly said to open between two nasal 

 plates in species of this genus. This is not always so, occa- 

 sional specimens showing a single plate on one side of the 

 head with a groove beneath the nostril, while there are two 

 plates on the opposite side, or the plates of both sides may be 

 united. In a perfect example of S. occipitomaculata in the 

 Laboratory collection there is but one large postorbital plate. 



* Other examples of the species from the same locality were 

 examined after this was written. See Bull. 111. State Lab. Nat. Hist., 

 III., p. 187. 



