SYNOPSES AND DESCRIPTIONS. 87 
No band across the occiput; 
oculars 1—1; labials six gracilis. 
with three longitudinal bands of darker color 
yar. calamarina. 
oculars 1—2; labials seven; 
head black nigriceps. 
an occipital band ; 
oculars 1—2; labials seven coronata. 
a black spot on the occiput; 
oculars 1—1 planiceps. 
TANTILLA GRACILIS, pl. VI, fig. 3. 
Baird & Girard, 1853, Cat. N. A. Serp., 132. 
Small, wormlike, slender, slightly depressed; head small, not distinct 
from neck, depressed, crown convex; tail short, slender, tapering to a 
point. Eye small, over third and fourth labials, pupil round. Mouth- 
cleft deep, nearly straight. Snout broad, very prominent. Head-shields 
nine, broad. Frontal hexagonal, or rounded in front. Rostral broad, sub- 
triangular, convex. No loreal. Nasal in two parts, nostril in anterior. 
Orbitals 1—l. Temporals 1+1. Labials six, posterior two larger, the 
temporals wedging between them. Infralabials six, fourth larger, ante- 
rior pair slightly separated by the submentals in the specimen described. 
Submentals two pairs, posterior smaller. Seales smooth, in 15 rows, 
dorsal lozenge-shaped, outer and caudals somewhat broader. Ventrals 
124—129. Anal bifid. Subcaudals 41—45 pairs. 
Light reddish or olivaceous-brown, head darker. Beneath much lighter, 
yellowish. Posterior labials white; the white extending upward to the 
middle of the temporal. Individuals vary in regard to contact of mentals 
and submentals. Texas. 
var. CALAMARINA. 
Cope, 1866, Pr. Ac. N. Se., Phil., 320. 
Head flat, not distinct from neck; tail near one sixth of total length. 
Head-shields nine. Internasals narrow. Prefrontals in contact with 
second labial. Frontal longer than broad, angled in front. Supracilia- 
ries small. Nasal large. Orbitals 1—1, small. No loreal. Labials six, 
third and fourth in orbit, and supporting the orbitals. Infralabials seven, 
