26 



Gentts STORERIA, Baied & Gihaed. 



Gen. Char. Head subelliptical, distinct from the body. Cephalic plates 

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

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

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

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

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

 brown, with two dorsal dotted lines. 



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



16. Storeria dekati, B. ^ G. — Spotted-snake. . 



Spec. Chab. 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 eacji side of the occipital : a dark bar betw,een this and 

 the eye, und two below the orbit. 128-t-l, 47, 17, 18, 2| ( New-Tork). 



SYNONTMS. 



Tropidonotus dekayi, Holbh. N. Amer. Herp. III. 1842, 53, pi. xiv. — Dekay, 



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

 Tropidonotus ordiiiatus, Sxokee, Eep. Rept. Mass. 1839, 223. 

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



This snake is exceedingly abundant 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 Champlain. 



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



Spec. Chah. Orbitals, two anterior,5two 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-)-l, 43, 15, 9J, IJ (New-Tork). 



