848 13. COLUBRIDA 
the name T. ordinoides couchii. T. 0. hammondi often 
(62%) has two preoculars on at least one side of the head, 
while 7. 0. couchii shows no such tendency. T. 0. ham- 
mondii, however, shows no tendency toward an increase 
in the number of infralabials, while 7. 0. couchii does. 
The specimens from San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and 
Ventura counties are perfectly typical hammondii. The 
localities where intergradation with couchii occurs cannot yet 
be defined. They are, doubtless, in southern Kern County. 
Individual variation, in a very few specimens from the San 
Joaquin Valley, almost bridges the space between the char- 
acters of typical couchii and hammondii. 
In the San Bernardino Mountains T. 0. hammondii occurs 
with 7’. o. elegans at altitudes of 5,000 to 7,000 feet. Here 
the two forms seem to remain true to type, for no inter- 
mediate specimens have been taken. 7. 0. elegans seems to 
be a mountain form while JT. 0. hammondii occupies the 
lower country as well as higher elevations. 
The snakes which formerly were recorded as T. ham- 
mondiit from San Pedro Martir Mountains, on re-examina- 
tion, prove to be 7. 9. vagrans. T. 0. hammondii has been 
recorded by others from San Antonio and La Guilla, Lower 
California. 
So far as is known the ranges of T. 0. hammondii and 
T. marcianus do not meet. 
This snake feeds on tadpoles, frogs and fish. 
Captive individuals sometimes change the intensity of 
their pigmentation very quickly, in accordance with the 
lightness or darkness of the objects upon which they rest. 
