
No. 426.] THE COMMON GARTER SNAKE. | 483 
disappeared by fusion, leaving the stripes intact. The colora- 
tion above is therefore deep brown or almost black, with three 
yellowish stripes, of which the laterals are less distinct than 
the dorsal. The gastrosteges are grayish green, with the usual 
black spots near the ends. 
In this subspecies he includes one specimen from Mitchell's 
Bay, Ontario ; three from Lac qui Parle, Minnesota ; and five 
from Westport, Essex County, New York. These last were 
collected by Baird and described! by him as Eutenia sirtalis. 
The specimens assigned to the subspecies are, it is true, all 
from northern localities, but no definite statement is made as 
to the range of the form ; and it is probable that Cope did not 
intend to associate this coloration with any particular area or 
life zone. A proposed subspecies, based upon specimens from 
widely scattered localities (the intervening areas being occupied 
by other subspecies), is, in general, to be regarded with sus- 
picion, unless positive evidence, other than that afforded by 
similarity of coloration, can be adduced in favor of its subspecific 
value. Positive evidence of this character is rarely obtainable, 
particularly in the case of reptiles. In the case now under 
discussion, I believe that it can be shown that obscura inter- 
grades completely with more typical forms of Eutenia sirtalis ; 
that its color characters cannot be correlated with any particular 
climatic conditions ; and that therefore individuals exhibiting 
these color characters cannot be regarded as subspecifically 
distinct from those showing the coloration of typical Eutenta 
szrtalis. 
Eutenia sirtalis pallidula (Allen). 
In 1899 G. M. Allen described? the subspecies pallidula 
from specimens taken near Intervale, N. H., giving its geo- 
graphic distribution (p. 64) as “from the White Mountains 
of New Hampshire and the Adirondacks of New York north- 
ward into New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, and possibly 
farther." Later in the same paper (p. 65) he states that 
1 Baird, S. F.,and Girard, C. Catalogue of North American Reptiles E P 
2 Notes on the Reptiles and Amphibians of Intervale, N. H., Proc. 
Nat. Hist. (1899), p. 64 et seg. 
