SYNOPSES AND DESCRIPTIONS. 87 



No band across the occiput; 



oculars 1 — 1; labials six gracilis. 



with three longitudinal bands of darker color 



var. calamarina. 

 oculars 1 — 2 ; labials seven ; 



head black nigriceps. 



an occipital band ; 



oculars 1 — 2; labials seven . coronata. 



a black spot on the occiput ; 



oculars 1 — 1 planiceps. 



Tantilla gracilis, pi. VI, fig. 3. 



Baird &'Girard, 1853, Cat. N. A. Serp., 132. 



Small, wornilike, slender, slightly depressed; head small, not distinct 

 from neck, depressed, crown convex; tail short, slender, tapering to a 

 point. Eye small, over third and fourth labials, pupil round. Mouth- 

 cleft deep, nearly straight. Snout broad, very prominent. Head-shields 

 nine, broad. Frontal hexagonal, or rounded in front. Rostral broad, sub- 

 triangular, convex. No loreal. Nasal in two parts, nostril in anterior. 

 Orbitals 1 — 1. Temporals 1 + 1. Labials six, posterior two larger, the 

 temporals wedging between them. Infralabials six, fourth larger, ante- 

 rior pair slightly separated by the submentals in the specimen described. 

 Submentals two pairs, posterior smaller. Scales smooth, in 15 rows, 

 dorsal lozenge-shaped, outer and caudals somewhat broader. Ventrals 

 124 — 129. Anal bifid. Subcaudals 41 — 45 pairs. 



Light reddish or olivaceous-brown, head darker. Beneath much lighter, 

 yellowish. Posterior labials white; the white extending upward to the 

 middle of the temporal. Individuals vary in regard to contact of mentals 

 and submentals. Texas. 



var. calamarina. s 



Cope, 1866, Pr. Ac. N. 8c, Phil, 320. 



Head flat, not distinct from neck; tail near one sixth of total length. 

 Head -shields nine. Internasals narrow. Prefrontals in contact with 

 second labial. Frontal longer than broad, angled in front. Supracilia- 

 ries small. Nasal large. Orbitals 1 — 1, small. No loreal. Labials six, 

 third and fourth in orbit, and supporting the orbitals. Infralabials seven, 



