17 



Genus REGINA, Baird & Girard. 



Gen, Char. Body slender. Tail subconical, very mueli tapering, forming 

 one-third or one-fourth of the total length. Head conical, continuous 

 with the body, and proportionally small. Eyes large. Mouth deeply cleft. 

 Labials small. Loral and nasals large. Scales carinated. Cephalic plates 

 normal. Anterior orbitals 2, occasionally 1 ; posterior 2, occasionally 3. 

 Last, and sometimes last but one abdominal scutellso bifid or divided. 

 Subcaudal scutellae all divided. Dorsal rows of scales 19 - 21. Abdo- 

 minal scutellge 132 - 162 ; subcaudal, 52 - 86. General color, five or 

 more longitudinal dark bands on a lighter ground. Abdomen unicolor, 

 or likewise provided with similar bands. Aquatic. 



Syn. Regi7ia, B. & G. 1. c. (1853), 45. 



7. Regina leberis, B. ^ G. — Yellowbellied-snake. 



Spec. Char. Chestnut-brown, with a lateral yellow band, and three narrow black 

 dorsal vittse. Abdomen yellowish, with four brown bands, two of which are la- 

 teral and two medial. Dorsal rows of scales 19, all carinated. 1444-2, 81, 19, 

 23], 6^ (Penn.). 



SYNONYMS. 



Coluber leberis, Linn. Syst. Nat. ed. x. I. 1766, 216. — Gm. L. Syst. Nat. ed. xiii. 



I. iii. 1788, 1086.— Shaw, Gen. Zool. III. iii. 1802, 438. 

 Coluber septemvittatus. Sat, Journ. Acad. Nat. Sc. Philad. IV. 1825, 240. — Harl. 



Journ. Acad. Nat. Sc. Philad. V. 1827, 355; and Med. & Phys. Res. 1835, 118. 

 Tropidonotus leberis, Holbr. N. Amer. Herp. lY. 1842, 49, pi. xiii. — Dkkay, N. 



York Fauna, Kept. 1842, 45, pi. xi. f. 23. 

 Regina leberis, B. 8c G. 1. c. (1853), 45. 



This species is quite as aquatic in its habits as the Nerodia sipedon. It is 

 generally found along the banks of shallow brooks, especially where the sides 

 and bed are covered by loose stones. It frequently occurs coiled up under 

 broad flat stones in shallow streams. Its range extends from New- York to 

 Wisconsin, and it is abundant in many parts of Pennsylvania and Ohio, 

 particularly in the mountains, although it has not yet been detected further 

 south. 



