107 



parts of the limbs missing, and this observation may account for such' 

 maimings. 



Genus OPHIBOLUS, B. & Q. 



Ophibolus, Baird and Girard, 1853, 6, 82 ; Garman, 1883, 13, 64. 



Form moderately stout. Head not much broader than the neck. 

 Crown-shields 9. Loral plates present, or only rarely absent. Ante- 

 orbital single. Postorbitals 2 or 3. Nasals divided, with the nostril 

 between. Scales smooth and shining, disposed in 21 to 25 rows. Anal 

 plate entire. 



Key to the Eastern United States Species of Ophihohts. 



A. Scales in 21 (rarely 19 or 23) rows. 



a. General color red, with 22 or more triple rings of black, 

 red, and black ; or ground color reddish or gray, with 40 

 to 50 chocolate or brown saddle-shaped blotches. 



doliatus, p. 107r 

 aa. Ground color chestnut or olive, with about 50 rhombic 

 blotches along the back. Other blotches along the sides. 

 Southern States, north to District of Columbia. 



rh ombo7naculatus. 



aaa. Ground color black, with numerous small spots of yellowish 



or white, these sometimes forming transverse rows of spots. 



getulus, p. 101. 

 AA. Scales in 25 rows. 



Brownish, with 40 to 60 dark blotches above. Belly blotched. 



calligaster. Appendix. 



Ophibolus doliatus, (Linn). 



House Snake ; Milk Snake ; Chicken Snake 



Coluber doliatus, Linnseus, 1766, 64, ed. xii, 379; Coivnella doliata, 

 Holbrook, 1842, 54, ni, 105, pi. 24; Baird and Girard, 1853, 6', 89; 

 Garman, 1883, 13, 64 and 155. 



Variety triangidus. Coluber triangulus, Boie, 1827, 77, 537 ; Coluber 

 exhnius, Holbrook, 1842, 54, iii, Q^, P^- 15; Baird and Girard, 1853, 6, 

 87 ; Ophibolus doliatus, var. triangidus. Cope, 1875, 12, 37 ; Garman, 

 1883, IS, 65, pi. 5, fig. 1. 



Variety syspilus. Ophibolus doliatus syspilus. Cope, 1888, 3, 384. 



Ophibilus doliatus is an extremely variable species, and this has caused 

 it to be described under a great number of names, the most of which 

 have at one time or another stood for distinct species. Prof. Cope (S, 

 xiv, 608), in a general view of the species, recognizes no fewer than 11 

 varieties or subspecies. In its distribution, the species ranges from Maine 



