352 



CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 



[Proc. 4th Ser. 



divided. Gastrosteges one hundred and eighty-three. Tail complete. 

 Urosteges one hundred and four, all paired except the first to fourth. 



The head is brownish olive above, with whitish spots on the labials and 

 a dark brown postocular streak. The back is crossed by about fifty-five 

 black cross-bars separated by narrower brownish-white ones. In some 

 places the black bars are not quite continuous, tending to alternate at the 

 mid-dorsal Hne with those of the opposite side of the body. These black 

 cross-bars extend down on the sides to about the second row of scales. 

 The other lateral scales are of a brownish-gray color, continuous with the 

 light cross-bars, and are sometimes outlined with black. The tail is pro- 

 vided with about thirty blackish-brown blotches proximally, becoming uni- 

 color toward the tip where it is oHve. The lower surfaces are grayish, 

 more or less dotted with slate, and the base of each gastrostege shows a 

 more or less concealed blackish cross-bar. 



Length to anus, 228 mm. 



Length of tail, 95 mm. 



Variation. — The principal variation in scale characters is 

 set forth in the following table. 



TABLE OF SCALE COUNTS, Dromicus slevini, new species 



In all the specimens except the type all of the urosteges are 

 divided, and the frontal is slightly longer than the parietal 

 suture. Neither the Duncan nor the Cowley Mountain speci- 

 men shows any trace of longitudinal light stripes. . Both are, in 

 general, black with vertical light bars on the sides. In the 

 Duncan snake most of these light bars cross the back; while 

 in the Cowley specimen they do not extend above the lateral 

 regions, leaving a black dorsal band three or four scales wide. 

 The Narborough specimen agrees in coloration with that from 

 Cowley Mountain. The Cowley specimen has about eighty- 

 five light bars on the upper part of each side, where the Nar- 

 borough snake has only seventy-one, and the Duncan about 

 fifty-five. In the Cowley and Narborough snakes these light 

 bars fork inferiorly and, joining with branches of the preceding 



