122 [Senate 



Genus STORERIA, Baird & aiRARD. 



€r^. Char. Head subelliptical, distinct from the body. Cephalic pliateS 

 normal. Loral plate absent. Orbitals, two posterior, one or two ante- 

 rior. Nasals two, rather large. Body small, scarcely exceeding a foot in 

 length, subcylindrical : tail comparatively short, tapering. Dorsal scales 

 15 - 17 rows, all carinated. Abdominal scutellge 120 - 140 ; posterior 

 one bifid : subeaudal, all divided, from 41 to 51 in number. Color 

 brown, with two dorsal dotted lines. 



Stn. Storeria, B. & a. 1. c. 1853, 135. 



16. Storeria dekayi, B. (f- G. — Spotted-snake. 



Spec. Chak. One anterior and two posterior orbitals. Dorsal rows 17. Gray or 

 chestnut -brown above, with a clay-colored dorsal band margined by dotted 

 lines. A dark patch on each side of the occipital : a dark bar between this and 

 the eye, und two below the orbit. 128-f 1, 47, 17, 13, 2| ( New- York). 



SYNONYMS. 



Ttopidonotus dekayi, Holbe. N. Amer. Herp. III. 1842, 53, pi. xiv. — Dekat, 



N.Y. Fauna, Kept. 1842, 46, pi. xiv. f. 30. 

 Tropidonotus ordinatus, Stoeer, Rep. Kept. Mass. 1839, 223, 

 Storeria dekayi, B. & G. 1. c. 1853, 135. 



This snake is exceedingly abmidant in the Northern States, ranging from 

 Maine to Wisconsin, and south to Florida and Texas. Indeed no other species 

 has a more extended distribution. It is everywhere associated with the S, 

 occipito-maculata. In New- York, it is very abundant along the shores of 

 Lake Ghamplain. 



17. Storeria occipito-maculata, B. cf- G. 



Spec Chae. Orbitals, two anterior, two posterior. Dorsal scales in 15 rows. Above 

 gray or chestnut-brown, sometimes with a paler vertebral line : beneath red, or 

 salmon-color. Three distinct light-colored spots behind the head, and a smaller 

 one on the fourth or fifth upper labial. 124-1-1, 43, 15, 9|, If (New-York). 



