40. THAMNOPHIS 843 
intermediate characters are found at the points where T. o. 
couchii and T. o. elegans come in contact, as at Jackass Mea- 
dows, 7,750 feet, Tulare County, and in the Yosemite Val- 
ley. At other places, as at Fallen Leaf Lake, E] Dorado 
County, and at Glenbrook, Nevada, snakes of both types 
have been taken but no intermediate specimens have been 
secured, 
One specimen had eaten a young blackbird. Another had 
caught a six-inch trout. 
Where conditions are favorable these snakes often attain 
enormous size. One measures 55.5 inches, of which 12.25 
inches represent the tail. Another has the same measure- 
ment to anus, but the tail is 1.25 inches shorter. These 
snakes were secured at Buena Vista Lake, where they live 
in patches of tules out in the lake and doubtless eat fish. 
Although they may be seen in considerable numbers sunning 
themselves on the broken-down tules, they are hard to 
shoot, for they are very shy and slide into the water at the 
least alarm. Several were seen which appeared to be larger 
than any secured by us. The largest specimens sometimes 
show no lateral lines or other markings. Specimens of 
similar size occur in the marshes near Los Bafios. 
190. Thamnophis ordinoides hammondii (Kennicott) 
CALIFORNIA GARTER-SNAKE 
Plate 92 
Eutainia hammondit Kennicotr, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1860, 
p- 332 (type localities, San Diego, Fort Tejon, Cal.); Corr, 
U. S. Explor. Surv. W. tooth Merid., Vol V, 1875, pp. 545, 549. 
Eutenia Couchit, Cooper, Proc. Cal. Acad. Sci., Vol. IV, 1870, p. 68. 
Eutenia hammondii Yarrow & HENsHAW, Ann. Rep. Chief of Engineers 
for 1878, Surv. W. rooth Merid., Appendix NN, 1878, p. 215 (part); 
Brown, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1903, p. 295. 
Eutenia marciana Yarrow & HensHaw, Ann. Rep. Chief of Engineers 
for 1878, Surv. W. tooth Merid., Appendix NN, 1878, p. 216. 
