26. DIADOPHIS 64^ 



Diadophis amabilis pulchellus Cope, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., Vol. XIV, 



1891 (1892), p. 616; Cope, Report U. S. Nat. Mus. for 1898, 1900, 



P- 747, fig- 157- 

 Diadophis amabilis amabilis Cope, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., Vol. XIV, 



1891 (1892), p. 616; Cope, Report U. S. Nat. Mus., for 1898, 1900, 



p. 749, fig. 160. 

 Coronella amabilis Boulenger, Cat. Snakes Brit. Mus., Vol. II, 1894, 



p. 207 (part). 



Description. — Top of head flattened posteriorly, curv- 

 ing slightly downward to the broad, rounded snout. Rostral 

 plate large, broader than high, hollowed below, and bounded 

 behind by internasal, anterior nasal, and first labial plates. 

 Plates on top of head are a pair of internasals, a pair of 

 prefrontals, a short, broad frontal between two supraoculars, 

 and a pair of long parietals. Anterior and posterior nasals 

 normally distinct, rarely united above nostril. Loreal small 

 and nearly square. Preoculars and postoculars two each. 

 Temporals one followed by one. Seven (rarely eight) 

 superior and eight (rarely seven) inferior labials, sixth (or 

 seventh) upper and fifth (or fourth) lower largest, third 

 and fourth (rarely fourth and fifth) superior reaching eye, 

 first pair of inferior meeting on median line. Genials in 

 two pairs, anterior very slightly, if at all, larger than post- 

 erior pair. Scales on body smooth, in 15 or sometimes 17 

 rows. Anal plate divided. Gastrosteges varying in number 

 from 1 82 to 2 1 2. Urosteges in two series of from 44 to 72. 

 Tail tapering ending in a pointed conical plate. 



The color above is olive, brownish, greenish, bluish, or 

 blackish slate, or gray, minutely reticulated, but without 

 definite markings, except a light collar across the neck just 

 behind the head. This collar may be white, yellow, or uni- 

 color with the belly, and is often edged with black or slate. 

 It covers from one and one-half to three transverse rows of 

 scales. The upper part of the head is usually a darker 

 shade of the color of the back. The upper labials are partly 



