482 rBOCEEDINOS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. vol.xxi. 



T1k5 <'()lor of tlie under surface is alinost always white or yellowish 

 white, but that of the upper is extremely variant. In }>feneral it may 

 be described as a lij?hter ground color, upon which are superimposed 

 vaiious marking's, blotches, stripes, and spots, of a, li^ht or a dark 

 brown. The j^ronnd c<)h)r liinges in alcohol from a light grayish green 

 to a dark, asliy olive, but the greatest variation in the coloring is espe- 

 cially in rcgai'd to the amount and distribution of the dark blotches. 

 SI ill, tlioiigli at first glance there seems to be no regular scheme in which 

 the markings are ai)plied, by looking niore closely the diricrcnt indi- 

 viduals can without ai)parcnt exception be arranged according <o a 

 system of five more or less distinct styles of coloration, which seem to 

 follow each other in direct sciiuence, from few markings up to many. 



Tliere are no specimens absolutely without dark markings of some 

 kind. lOven the very lightest individuals of style I, as perhai)8 best 

 siiowii in No. '.Vl'M'i^ U.S.N.M., a large female fiom Shoalwater I»ay, 

 Washington, possess a daik vitta along each side of the head, a mark- 

 ing which ia constant in the 8i)ecie8 in all of the live styles, and which 

 indeed seems to seive as a foundation for the supei'structuie of added 

 blotches. It consists of a rather wide brown line Ix^ginning at the 

 snout, where it Joins its fellow of the opposite side, and passing through 

 the nostril, gradually widening until it reaches the eye. From the 

 posterior angle of Ihe eyelids it is continued back as a band nearly as 

 broad as the orbit, inclosing the tympanum and i)assing over the arm 

 to a point above the armi)it. ITer«^ the side marking may stop, but as 

 a rule it is carried farliuu' ba<'k as a rowof (juadrate blotches and spots 

 often reaching into the groin, and sometimes the band itself runs back 

 th(^ length of the humerus behind the axilla. There is a brown edging 

 to the upper lij), which maybe a little inegular, but is always present. 

 This is the usual extent of the marking in style I (lig. li), but very 

 rarely light indistinct blotches may appear on the femora and tibiai of 

 the largest Individ mils. In all the styles the space between the head 

 stripe and the lip edging is (sonsiderably lighter than the ground color, 

 in some being almost wiiite below tlie tympana. 



As remarked abovci, this combination of markings is also found in 

 the other styles, with additional blotchings. In style II (lig. ;>) begins 

 a system of dorsal blotches, tliat is carried through those following, 

 and enlarged upon. The first to appear is a triangular, or rudely Y or 

 T shaped, blotch between the eyes, connecting the lids and running to 

 about their centers and back to the tyini)ana. In style 11 the stem of 

 the Y may be lacking, and the branches not comidetely Joined at the 

 median line, or the stem and brani^hes may all be present, though 

 barely connected at the center. This is never the only dorsal marking, 

 but stripes aie always found with it. in style II there are two dorsal 

 longitudinal stri[)es, beginning above the arms and 8ei)arate(l by about 

 one-third of the body width, running nearly or quite to the pelvic ele- 

 vation. Often there are two or three cross bars on the femora, tibial, 



