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SYNOPSES AND DESCRIPTIONS. 35 
lated, rarely grooved. Head-shields 8—9. Internasals 2 or fused. Nasal 
grooved or divided. Loreal rarely present. Orbitals 1—2. Scales smooth, 
lustrous, in 15—21 rows. Anal bifid. Subcaudals in two rows, 
Nasal grooved; 
no loreal; 
scales in 19 rows; 
head-shields normal erythrogrammus. 
internasals fused abacurus. 
Nasal divided; 
a loreal; 
scales in 21 rows; 
head-shields normal quinquevittatus. 
ILyYDROPS ERYTHROGRAMMUS. 
Couper ERYTHROGRAMMUS Daudin, 1799, Hist. Rept. VII, 93, Tab. 83, f. 2. 
Stout, round, subfusiform; head hardly distinct from neck, slightly 
depressed, rounded; tail short, one sixth to one eighth of the total, thick, 
tapering to a point. Snout moderate, rounded. Eye medium, over the 
third and fourth labials, pupil round. Mouth deeply cleft, outline nearly 
straight. Teeth larger backward. Head-shields normal. Rostral broad, 
convex. Internasals small. Prefrontals broad, entering the orbit. Fron- 
tal hexagonal, lateral sides nearly parallel. Anteorbital and loreal united. 
Postorbitals two. Temporals 1+2. Labials 7, penultimate largest. In- 
fralabials eight, fifth larger. Submentals two pairs, posterior smaller. 
Scales smooth, glossy, in 19 rows, dorsal broad, outer broader than long. 
Ventrals broad 167—185. Anal bifid, exceptionally entire. Subeaudals 
38 to 50 pairs. : 
Red or reddish brown, with four bands of lustrous dark-brown or black 
from head to tail, each about three scales in width, separated by red spaces 
of about one scale on the vertebral and the sixth rows on each flank. 
Outer row, sometimes the first two or three rows, red. Lateral brown 
band often narrowed, lower margin notched. A rounded spot of black 
near each end of the ventrals. A row of spots along the middle of the 
belly, sometimes broken or absent. Labials and chin-shields with central 
spots of black. Head-shields more or less marked with red. Largest 
specimen 394 inches in total; tail 54 inches. MissisSippi Valley and 
eastward, as far north as Illinois and North Carolina. 
