296 ZOOLOGY. 



Sr Cli. — Iltad siib-tiiim{;iilar. I'lates dii ti p uf lu'iifHqiiaiiiil'oini, iiicpulai , MiRiilatcd, and iiiilnicaled : fcaU'S betwui'ii 

 snprroiliaiics small, nunitTHUs, unifoim. Fmir rows of scales between the sub-orb tal series (wliieh only extends to tbe centie 

 <if the m'bit) and the la'ials Labials 15 or IS, nearly nniform. Dorsal series 27-2!) Dori-al blotelies quadrate, concave 

 before and biliiiul ; intervals greater behind. Spots transversely quadrate p slerioily, ultimately beromini,' 10 or 12 half 

 liiiflK. Two transverse lines on superciliarii s, i-nclosinu about one-third. Stripe from superciliary to angle of j iws croi-s-.s 

 angle of the month on the second row above labial. Rostral m.argined with lighter. 



Milk river, Nebraska. 



This species is very numerous on the Missouri river and its tributaries, between Fort Union, 

 Nebraska, and the Rocky mountains. In July and August they are found very common in the 

 dry canons, and among the willow brush, and cotton-wood forests along the banks of the rivers. 

 They are then sluggish and stupid, being, according to popular belief, "blind," and are said 

 to be at that season exceedingly venomous. This stupid condition during the drought of 

 summer is not uncommon to many species of snakes, the torpidity being analogous to that of 

 hybernation, and may therefore be called aestivation. Hunters have told me that the serpents 

 are "blind," because they are at that time about shedding the cuticle, and that as evidence of 

 loss of vision the snake, when provoked, will "strike wildly." — S. 



EUTAINIA ATRATA, K e n n i c o 1 1 . 



Sp Cii — Ro !y compact, cylinflrical, moderately st .ut Head sm ill and narrow, eye very small ; eight upper labials si.\th 

 largest Dors il rows of scales seventeen, e.\tericrr row largest, higher than long, and very sliglitly carinated ; the ne.tt row 

 smaller, but considerably larger than the third, distinctly carinated. Scale.sof the central dorsal rows proportionately shorter 

 than in E. corcinna and E. Pickeringii A very broad, deep lemon yellow dorsal stripe, covering nearly three rows, .and distinct 

 from head to tip of tail The rest of the upper parts entirely deep blue black, without a trace of the lateral stripe or of light 

 spots. Abdomen entirely uniform greenish slate, yellowish green under the head. — Kennicott. 



California. — C. 



EUTAINIA COOPERI, Kennicott. 



Plate XV, Reptiles, Fig. 1. 



The Red Striped Garter Snake. 



EtUainia cooptri, Kexn. I'roc. Acad. Nat. Sc. Philad. 1859, p --. 

 Sp. Ch. — ^Body stout, compact, and cylindrical, as in E. radix, dorsal rows of scales only seventeen. Head short, depressed 

 anteriorly. Labials seven above, the 5th twice as large as tbe 7th, being the largest of all, and greatly developed. Colors, (in 

 alcohol,) above, uniform blackish brown, without spots, or olivaceous brown with two rows of black spots, as in E. vagrans, 

 but which do not encroach upon the stripes. Dorsal stripes yellowish, distinct on one and two half rows; lateral stripe 

 usually distinct, covering the second and part of the third rows; the row below being of the same color as the back. 

 Abdomen usually slate color, sometimes lighter. Body frequently sufifused with red, especially the dorsal stripe ; abdomen 

 sometimes tinged with red. — Kennicoti. 



The most highly- colored specimens of this snake were caught in one spot, on the 2d of 

 August, in a small pi'airie in the Cathlapoot'l valley. They had the colors represented in the 

 plate, but which fade after long keeping in alcohol. Others obtained in the Willopah valley, in 

 1854, had dark stripes, and young ones were without spots. — C. 



EUTAINIA PICKERINGII, Baird & Girard. 



Plckerlng^s Garter Snake. 



E. pkkeringii, B. & G. Cat. N. Amer. Serpents, 18.'i3, p. 27. — Gieabd, Expl. Exped. Reptiles, p. 150, pi. XI11_ 

 fig. 14-20. 

 Sp. Ch. — Body rather slender ; dorsal rows of scales nineteen, the first large and moderately carinated. Head large and 

 high, with the upper labials well developed, seven in number, the fifth largest. Color, black above; the stripes three, greenish 



