296 
ZOOLOGY. 
Sr Cii. — Hc'ud sub-ti inii.uuliir. I'liitcs on b p (.>f lit-ail Kjiiainifonn, iiicpulai, !>iig\ilatc(l, and inibiicritcd ; scalfs botwccn 
Hup rciliaiit's small, nuniomus, unilVirni. Fnur rows of scales bftween tbe sub-orb tal srHes (wbicb only extends to the centre 
(if till' orbit) and tbe la'^ials Labials L5 or 18, nearly unifoi'ni. Dorsal series 27-29 Dorsal blotebes quadrate, concave 
belDie and bebind ; intervals f^reater behind. Spots transversely i]uadratc p- stei iorly, ultimately becoming 10 or 12 half 
lings. 'I wo transverse lines on superciliarit s, enclosing about one-third. Stripe frnni superciliary to angle of j iws crui-SJS 
angle of the mcjutli on the second row above labial. Rostral margined with lighter. 
Milk river, Nebraska. 
This species is very numerous on the Missouri river and its tributaries, between Fort Union, 
Nebraska, and the Rocky mountains. In July and August they are found very common in the 
dry canons, and among the willow brush, and cotton-wood forests along the banks of the rivers. 
They are then sluggish and stupid, being, according to popular belief, "blind," and are said 
to be at that season exceedingly venomous. Tliis stupid condition during the drought of 
summer is not uncommon to many species of snakes, the torpidity being analogous to that of 
hybernation, and may therefore be called aestivation. Hunters have told me that the serpents 
are "blind," because they are at that time about shedding the cuticle, and that as evidence of 
loss of vision the snake, when provoked, will "strike Avildly." — S. 
EUTAINI.l ATRATA, Kennicott. 
Sr. Cn — Bo ly compact, cylindrical, moderately st ut Head sm ill aud narrow, eye very small ; eight upper labials sixth 
largest Uors il rows of scales seventeen, c.\teriiir row largest, higher than long, and very slightly carinated ; the next row 
smaller, but considerably larger than the third, distinctly carinated. Scales of the central dorsal rows proportionately shorter 
than in E. corcinna and E. Pkkeringii A very Ijroad, deep lemon yellow dorsal stripe, covering nearly three rows, and distinct 
from head to tip of tail The rest of the upper parts entirely deep blue black, without a trace of the lateral stripe or of light 
spots. Abdomen entirely uniform greenish slate, yellowish green under the head. — Kennicott. 
California. — C. 
EUTAINIA COOPERL Kennicott. 
Plate XV, Reptiles, Fig. 1. 
The Red Striped Garter Snake. 
Eutainia cooptri, Kekn. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sc. Fhilad. 1859, p — . 
Sp. Cii. — Body stout, compact, and cylindrical, as in E. mdix, dorsal rows of scales only .seventeen. Head short, depressed 
anteriorly. Labials seven above, the 5th twice as large as the 7th, being the largest of all, and greatly developed. Colors, (in 
alcohol,) above, uniform blackish brown, without spots, or olivaceous brown with two rows of black spots, as in E. vagrans, 
liut which do not encroach upon the stripes. Dorsal stripes yellowish, distinct on one and two half rows; lateral stripe 
usually distinct, covering the second and part of the third rows; the row below being of the same color as the back. 
Abdomen iisu illy slate color, sometimes lighter. Body frequently suffused with red, especially the dorsal stripe ; abdomea 
sometimes tinged with red. — Kennicott. 
The most highly colored specimens of this snake Avere caught in one spot, on the 2d of 
August, in a small prairie in the Cathlapoot'l valley. They had the colors represented in the 
plate, bnt which fade after long keeping in alcohol. Others obtained in the Willopah valley, in 
1854, had dark stripes, and yoimg ones were without spots. — C. 
EUTAINIA PICKERINGII, Baird & Girard. 
Pickering's Garter Snake. 
E. pickerinffii, B. & G. Cat. N. Amer. Serpents, 1853, p. 27. — Girard, Expl. Expcd. Reptiles, p. 150, pi. XIll^ 
fig. 14-20. 
Sp. Ch.. — Body rather slender ; dorsal rows of scales nineteen, the first large and moderately carinated. Head large and 
high, with the upper labials well developed, sevea in number, the fifth largest. Color, black above; the stripes three, greenish 
