332 FLORIDA REPTILES AND BATRACSIAXS—LCENNBERG. vol. xvii. 



ditches and ponds or lie, resting, on floating boards, stumps, etc. At 

 the approach of a person they dive and hide in the mud, but if they 

 can not escape they bite wildly, 



NATRIX CYCLOPION (Dumeril & Bibron).* 



I obtained only one sj)ecimen of this rare snake, and that one is 

 small, though it is easily recognized. Scales in 29 rows; two small 

 subocular plates, or scales, on each side. Temporals, 1-2, and a third 

 one behind these, not touching the anterior one. The temporals indi- 

 cate the difierence from N. taxispilota, and the number of scale rows 

 the difference from the N. fasciata group. The color is light grayish 

 brown, with numerous narrow, dark crossbands, which are partly broken 

 up into six series of spots. My specimen is from Orange County. 



NATRIX TAXISPILOTA (Hoi bio ok). 



Of this big water snake I saw quite a number on the shores of Lake 

 Apopka, Orange County. They may be seen resting on objects float- 

 ing in the water, or on grass and branches overhanging the water, 

 always diving when approached. I could not catch any alive, but 

 had to shoot them in order to obtain specimens. 



One large female had on the right side the normal number of oculars, 

 viz, 1-2, but on the left side 1-3. Another had on both sides 2-3 ocu- 

 lars, and the same is the case with a smaller male specimen. When 

 the oculars are 1-2 the eye rests on one of the labials, but when there 

 are 3 postoculars the lowest one separates the eye from the labials. 

 The number of oculars is consequently quite variable and seems to be of 

 but little use as a specific character. The reduced size of the jjarietals, 

 however, as well as the number of temporals, shows that my specimens 

 belong to N. taxispilota. The male specimen has 29 rows of scales. 

 The ground-color is mostly grayish brown, with alternating darker 

 dorsal and lateral square spots which do not touch each other. Other 

 specimens are darker, nearly black, and then the spots become less con- 

 spicuous. 



STORERIA DEKAYI (Hoi brook). 



At Kissimmee, Osceola County, near the shore of the Lake Tohope- 

 kaliga, I found a specimen of this snake. It was in February, and, 

 although the day was warm and sunny, the snake was hidden under a 

 piece of board. The upper part of the forehead, extending backwards 

 over the greater part of the parietals, and the cheeks to the posterior 

 margin of the eye, are of a dark brown color. The posterior part of the 

 head is of a yellowish gray clay color, w ith the exception of two large, 

 nearly triangular, black patches on the sides of the occiput. The light- 

 colored stripe formed by the interspace between those two patches 

 extends forwards to the parietals, nicking into the brown color. The 



• DuMbMtiL et BiBUON, Erp^tologle g^n^rale, vii, p. 576 (1854). 



