86 



total length, usually one-third or one-fourth. Head narrow and mod- 

 erately high. Snout somewhat projecting beyond the lower jaw. Mouth- 

 deft large, curved. Upper labials 7 ; the eye over 3d and 4th. Lower 

 labials <S ; the 5th largest. Scales smooth ; disposed in 15 rows. Ven- 

 trals 125 to 140 ; subcaudals 69 to 95 ; the latter seldom 70 per cent, of 

 the former in number. 



Color above, grass-green, fading somewhat on the lower rows of scales. 

 Below greenish yellow. On the throat and upper labials yellowish white. 

 The green of the upper surface often changing in alcohol to blue. 



Distributed from Nova Scotia to Wyoming and southwest to New Mex- 

 ico. Rare or not found in the Southern States. 



In Indiana it is probably generally, but not abundantly, distributed. 

 Known localities: New Harmony (Sampson's coll.); Brown county 

 (collected by Chas. Jameson). 



This is a beautiful and inoffensive little creature. Its color indicates 

 plainly both that it lives among green plants and that it is little able to 

 defend itself from the attacks of enemies. It must therefore depend on 

 concealment for safety. It probably lives almost entirely in the grass, 

 and rarely ascends trees and shrubbery, as does its relative, the Rough 

 Green-snake. Holbrook says of it that "it is a very gentle animal, and 

 can be handled with impunity ; it seeks meadows of high grass, where 

 crickets and grasshoppers abound, on which it feeds. It is found mostly 

 on the ground, though at times I have seen it stretched on the branches- 

 of low shrubs, as the dwarf willow." DeKay Q30, 40) says of it that it 

 is exceedingly quick and lively in its movements ; that it is most abund- 

 ant in marshes, and that it is reputed to fight furiously with the Striped 

 snake. Prof. F. W. Putnam found in Massachusetts, on August 31, its 

 eggs under the bark of an old stump. They were just ready to hatch 

 and one snake was already out. The eggs were an inch and a half long,, 

 and the young a little over 5 inches. 



Genus PHYLLOPHILOPHIS, Garman. 



« 



PhyllopUloplm, Garman, 1883, 13, 40; Leptophis, Bell, 1826, 110, 328;:. 

 Baird and Girard, 1853, 6,^106. 



Body and tail very long and slender, and the body somewhat com- 

 pressed. Head distinct from the body. Loral present, small. One an- 

 teorbital. Postorbitals two. Nasal single, with the nostril in the center. 

 Eye large. Mouth-cleft deep. Scales keeled, except those of the outer- 

 one or two rows ; arranged in 17 rows. Anal plate divided. 



This genus differs from Oydophis only in having the scales keeled. 



