150 OP HID I A. 



2. EUTAENIA PICKERINGI, B. & G. 

 (Plate XIII, figs. 14-20.) 



CHAR. SPEC. Corpore gracili. Capite et oculo modicis. Scuto prae- 

 orbitali uno ; postorbitalibus tribus, aequalibus. Squamis dorsualibue 

 in novemdecim series dispositis, omnibus carinatis. Supra nigro; infra 

 lapidis fissilis color is. Vittis laterah'bus irregularibus, confluent iiius, 

 cum pallldis intervallis inter fuscas maculas. 



SPEC. CHAR. Body slender. Head and eye moderate in size. One 

 anteorbital ; three postorbitals, of equal development. Dorsal scales 

 disposed upon nineteen rows, all carinated. Black above ; slate 

 color beneath. Lateral stripe irregular, confluent, with the light- 

 colored intervals between the dark spots. 



SYN. Eutaenia pickeringii, B. & Gr. Catal. N. Amer. Kept. I, 1853, 27. 



DESCR. The cephalic plates present the same general aspect as in 

 E. inf emails. A feature, however, peculiar to the present species, 

 may be observed amongst the postorbital plates, which are nearly of 

 equal size, the middle one, mayhap, a little smaller than the others. 

 The nostril encroaches somewhat upon the postnasal, which is nearly 

 equal in size with the prenasal. The labial plates are conspicuously 

 developed. The abdominal scutellae average from one hundred and 

 fifty-eight to one hundred and seventy, and the subcaudal ones from 

 seventy-three to eighty-seven. 



The inequality between the exterior dorsal row of scales and the 

 rest is scarcely appreciable. The former is rather the larger, and little 

 or not at all keeled; the second row is about the same size with the 

 rest. The eyes are larger, and the head shorter than in E. leptocephala, 

 from the same locality. 



This species exhibits great variations in color, principally in regard 

 to the amount of black on the abdomen, and the extent of the stripes. 

 The most strongly marked specimen is of an intense black, tinged with 

 bluish below. There is a very narrow greenish-white vertebral line, 

 beginning at the nape, where it occupies one and two half-scales, and 

 gradually narrows to the keel of the middle dorsal row, becoming ob- 

 solete at the anus. The keels of the second and third rows of scales 

 show a faint line of greenish-white, only perceptible on close examina- 



