NOTES ON CROTALUS MITCHELLII, 451 



' pepper and salt ' appearance. The larger blotches on 

 the back are very wide (transversely) and of a brownish 

 clay color, becoming brighter posteriorly; the borders of 

 these blotches are marked with more or less isolated 

 blackish spots. In Dr. Street's report the paleness of 

 his specimen is attributed to fading in alcohol, but as Mr. 

 Orcutt's specimens were received quite fresh, it is evi- 

 dent that it is the type which is unusually colored, and 

 not the others." This " pepper and salt " style is the 

 coloration of C . mitchellii, as exhibited by eight of the 

 specimens in the California Academy, and about as set 

 forth in the original description. When it has been said 

 that the other specimens of C . mitchellii in the California 

 Academy collection, from Las Huavitas and Sierra El 

 Taste, Lower California, are both decidedly red, as de- 

 scribed below, it will be seen that there remains no color 

 distinction between the supposed two forms. 



In regard to the second and third distinctions. Dr. 

 Stejneger has written (1. c. p. 167) : " The original 

 character relied upon for the distinction of these two 

 species, viz., the number of loreals, there being one in 

 the type of C . miichellii and four in that of C . -pyrrhns, 

 breaks down upon an examination of the specimens which 

 have come to light since. In this respect Mr. Orcutt's 

 larger specimen is particularly interesting, inasmuch as 

 on one side of the head it has a very long lower pre- 

 orbital, the condition which obtains in C . »iitchcUii, while 

 on the other side this plate is divided as in the other 

 specimens of C. pyrr/iiis.'' The worthlessness of these 

 characters is further shown by the great variation in the 

 number, size and shape of these plates in the Academy 

 specimens, as described below. 



The fourth distinction is scarcely worthy of mention, 

 there being so much variation in the shape of the rattle 



