SONGLESS BATEACHIANS. 



43 



and characteristics of this 

 of Plethodon 



York he is far from uncommon. That, however, is a 

 matter of personal experience. Professor Cope says 

 that this species, found throughout the United States 

 east of the Mississippi Eiver, is apparently more 

 abundant in the Middle States than elsewhere, and 

 that its northern range is central Maine, Ontario, and 

 Michigan. 



A very common variety of this species is the red- 

 backed salamander {Plethodon cinereus erythrono- 

 tus). There is prac- >^ tically no difference be- 

 tween the proportions 

 sub-species and those 

 cinereus. In ap- 

 pearance there is a 

 difference; the back 

 of Plethodon cinereus 

 erythronotus is marked 

 with a broad red stripe 

 which begins at the neck and finishes at the tip of the 

 tail. There is a mottled appearance at the middle 

 of the stripe which does not affect this color. The 

 stripe is also variable in tone ; sometimes it is brick- 

 red, occasionally it is pinkish, and at other times it 

 is pale orange.* 



Red-backed Salamander 

 (P. cinereus erythrmiotus). 



* When it is this color we are liable to confuse it with the spe- 

 cies Desmognathus ochrophaa, but the body of the latter is stouter, 

 and its under parts are never yellow. 



