Reptiles of Massachusetts. 25 
specimens, all the scales upon the upper jaw are 
edged with black. 
Sometimes the spots on the sides of the abdomen 
are very distinctly seen; in others, as in several 
specimens lying before me while I write, they are 
scarcely observable. 
When preserved in spirit, the longitudinal dorsal 
line becomes lighter colored, ‘and the abdomen - 
changes to a yellowish green color. i 
The abdominal plates are 128 ; the caudal scales 
62 and 64. 
In tlie stomach of this species, I have found frag- 
E em of insects. 
* i * 
C. vernalis. Dekay. The green Snake. 
Harlan's Med. and Phys. Res. p. 124. 
One of our most beautiful species, this snake is 
generally well known. A fine living specimen be- 
fore me, twenty-one inches in length, exhibits the 
following characters : 
-Above, of a beautiful grass green color; beneath, 
a yellowish white. Length of the head, half an 
inch ; greatest width of the head, a quarter of an 
| inch; head flattened above; ten plates upon the top 
i . of the head; one at the snout; two pairs imme- 
3 S | diately back of this ; three plates between the eyes ; 
- two large plates upon the occiput. Upper jaw bor- 
| dered by fourteen scales. Nostrils circular, just back 
* of the posterior lateral angle of the mane: Pupil of 
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