198 THE HERPETOLOGY OF CUBA. 
1 +2; seven upper labials, third and fourth entering the eye; four lower 
labials in contact with anterior chin shields which are shorter than the posterior; 
seventeen rows of smooth scales around the body; 180 ventrals, anal divided; 
86 subcaudals. 
Colour (fresh in aleohol):— Rich mahogany-brown above, two lighter 
stripes each covering two rows of dorsal scales extending from occiput to tail 
and separated by the middorsal row which is dark brown like the sides. The 
whole head and dorsal surface with a beautiful peach-blow iridescence; lower 
surfaces creamy white. A few light spots and dots on snout and above the eyes. 
Dimensions: — Total length 465 mm. 
Length of tail 117.5 mm. 
In M. C. Z. 8,507, a half-grown example from near Cojimar, Havana 
Province, Cuba; spring 1913, T. Barbour collector, the colours are much lighter, 
the light stripes are three instead of two scales wide and stand at much greater 
contrast with the brown ground-colour of the back. The snout is rounded and 
hardly projecting. The projecting rostral, so evidently modified for burrowing, 
is apparently only acquired by the fully adult individuals. In this immature 
example there are seventeen rows of scales, 168 ventrals, the anal is divided 
and there are 89 subcaudals. 
The small snakes of this and the following species are perhaps entirely 
nocturnal. By day they are found turned up from the earth by ploughs or 
hidden under flat stones. We have never seen one moving abroad and they 
are entirely unknown to the majority of the Cuban country people. They may 
be more strictly subterranean than nocturnal although this is not easy to prove, 
the strongly modified projecting rostral region and the small ill-developed eye 
with round instead of elliptical pupil suggest this possibility. These snakes 
are very rare and are but poorly represented in museums. They also appear 
to vary considerably, as is common with other species of similar habits,— and 
some variations have given rise to synonymous names (cf. under A. vittatum). 
Having seen the various specimens collected by the writers and those in the 
museums of Washington and Havana there seems to be no reason to suppose 
that this and the following species do not occur widespread throughout Cuba; 
they have been found in a perfectly haphazard way from San Cristobal in the 
west to the Guantanamo area in the east. More specimens have been taken 
about the latter locality by Gundlach, Wright, and the writers than anywhere 
else; probably because the locality has been more intensively collected. 
