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COLUBER COUPERI.—Holbrook. 
Plate XVI. 
Cuaracrers. Head rather small, but distinct from neck, elongated, sub-oval, 
flattened above and at the sides; snout obtuse, slightly projecting; body thick; 
tail Senter; colour above deep bluish-black, with a metallic lustre in the sun; 
throat bluish-white, with blotches of pale red. 
Synonyme. Indigo Snake, or Gopher Snake. 
Descrietion. The head is rather small for the size of the animal, though 
distinct from the neck; it is sub-oval, narrow, flattened above, and at the sides, 
with the snout elongated and rounded anteriorly. The vertical plate is short, 
broad, pentagonal, broadest before. The superior orbital are sub-trigonal and 
large, broadest externally. The frontal plates are broad and pentagonal. The 
anterior smaller and quadrilateral. The occipital are very large. There are two 
small pentagonal, posterior orbital plates, behind which are three temporal plates, 
the posterior largest. The anterior orbital is single, large, and incurvated 
posteriorly for the orbit. The loral plate is single. 
There are two large nasal plates, the anterior smaller, quadrilateral, and the 
posterior pentagonal. ‘The rostral plate is large, sub-triangular, round in front, 
but not much projecting. ‘There are seven large superior labial plates, of which 
the sixth and seventh are largest, and the third and fourth are pentagonal, and 
form the lower wall of the orbit. 
5 
The nostrils are large, lateral near the snout, and open upwards, outwards, and 
V. 3—10* 
