REPTILES OF THE PACIFIC COAST. 



185 



The color above in adults is green, olive, or yellowish 

 or reddish brown, changing to 

 green (or blue) on the lower 

 rows of scales and the tips of 

 the gastrosteges. There are no 

 dark or light markings but the 

 skin between the scales is often 

 black. The head and tail are unicolor with the body. 

 The Jower surfaces are yellow or, rarely, white, un- 

 spotted. 



Young are colored like adults on the tail and posterior 

 part of the back, but 

 anteriorly are spot- 

 ted, blotched, or 

 cross-barred with 

 brown of a shade 

 darker than the 

 ground-color. These 

 dark markings spread 

 and blend until the 

 adult coloration is 



assumed. Dark spots are present also on the tips of 

 the gastrosteges and sides of the head. 



Length to anus 203 314 526 626 636 647 



Length of tail 64 103 196 217 192 209 



Distribution. — The Western Yellow-bellied or " Blue " 

 Racer ranges over the whole length of California, but, 

 I believe, has never been taken in the desert regions of 

 the southeast. It has been collected in San Diego 

 (Agua Caliente 3,400 feet), San Bernardino, Kern 

 (Fort Tejon, Kernville), Monterey (Monterey), Santa 

 Cruz (Glenwood), Santa Clara (Los Gatos, San Jose, 

 Palo Alto), San Mateo (Pescadero), San Francisco, 

 Alameda (Berkeley), Contra Costa (Crockett), Marin 



