34 



Genus DIADOPHIS, Baiei> & Gi&A&s. 



Gen. Char. Head subelliptioal, elongated, depressed, distinct from fke 

 body. Cephalic plates normal. Two postorbitals, and two anteorbitals, 

 A well-developed loral. Two nasals ; nostril between. Eyes large. Mouth 

 deeply cleft. Body slender, subcylindrical : tail tapering. Scales smooth, 

 disposed in 15 or 17 rows. Postabdominal scutellas bifid : sabcaudal 

 all divided. XJnicolor above, and generally with a light ring on the 

 occipital region : abdomen lighter, unicolor or punctate. 



Stn. Diadophis, B. & Q. 1. c. 1853, 112. 



i 



14. Diadophis PtrNCTATOS, B. ^ O. — Eingnecked-snake. 



Spec. Char. A yellowish white occip'tal ring. Body bluish black ahove; yellowish 

 orange beneath, with a medial series of spots, sometimes absent. Tail beneath 

 unioolor. Dorsal scales in 15 rows. Eye above the fourth and fifth tipper labials. 

 148+1, 53, 15, 131, 3 (Penn.). 



SYSONTMS. 



Coluber punctatus, LiSN, Syst. Nat. 1. 1776, 376.— Gm. X. Syst. Nat. ed. xiii. I. 



iii. 1788, 1089.— Haul. Journ. Acad. Nat. Sc. Philad. V. 1827, 354; and Med. 



& Phys. Res. 1835, 117.— Stoker, Rep. Rept. Mass. 1839, 225.— Holbr. N. 



.^.mer. Herp. 2d ed. III. 1842, 81, pi. xviii.— Dekat, N.T. Fauna, III. 1842, 



.-89^ pi. xiv. f. 29. 

 Spiletes funstalus, Swains. Nat. Hist, of Fish. Amph. & Rept. II. 1839, 364. -- 

 Calamarin punctata, Sohl. Ess. Phys. Serp. Part, descr. 1837, 39. 

 Diadophis punetatus, B, & G. 1. o. 1853, 112. 



This beautiful species is common in the mountainous districts of Penn- 

 sylvania and Virginia, and extends from Maine to Wisconsin, being also 

 widely distributed in the south. It is frequently found coiled up beneath flat 

 stones, and the fallen bark of logs, in which situations I have sometimes 

 found as many as twenty in a single day. In Texas, and the far west, it is 

 replaced by other allied species. 



