THE kp:ptiles of the huachuca mountains, ARIZONA.

THE kp:ptiles of the huachuca mountains, ARIZONA.

B}^

Leonhard

Ste.tneger, Curatorof the DlciKlonofIlcptllexandBatracliians

Few

placesinsouthernArizonahave beensowellsearchedfor rep- tiles

and by

so

many

collectors as

Fort Huachuca and

thesmall

moun-

tainstockbackofit,the

Huachuca

Mountains.

Man}" years

ago

Lieut.

Harry

C. Benson, thenstationed at thefort, sent the United StatesNational

Museum

asmall butyeryinteresting- lotofspecimens. Dr.

Timothy

E.Wilcox,thesurgeonofthefortfor

many

years,has

made

yery exhaustivecollectionsthere,

and some

of the

most

interesting specimens

were

secured

by

him. Dr.

A. K.

Fisher has

added

materially to jur

knowledge

of the herpetologyof that localityduringhis visittherein 1892. Imyself spenta

few

days at Fort

Huachuca

during the earlypartof

November,

18S9, but the season

was

too faradvancedfor

any

successfid collecting.

InthefollowinglistIhave incorporated the additional speciescol- lected

by Mr. W. W.

Priceinthe

Huachuca Mountains

during 1893

and

1894.

His

collection is

now

the property of

Leland

Stanford Junior University,

and

hasbeen

most

alilyreported

upon by Mr. John

van

Denburgh.^

CHELOMA.

KINOSTERNON SONORIENSE

LeConte.

This

mud

^turtleoccurs in the first

"cienega"

in the

canyon

above thefort,about 5,300feet

above

thesea,

whence we

havesixspecimens collected

by

Dr.

Wilcox

(Nos. 1T779-17781; 19680; 21120-21121).

Dr. Fisher has

informed me

that this species is

common

inBabaco- mari Creek.

SAURIA.

CROTAPHYTUS BAILEYI

Stejneger.

One

specimen

from

Lieutenant

Benson

(No. 14748), one

from Mr.

Loring

(No. 22208),

and

four

from

Dr.

Wilcox

(Nos.19704-19707)tes- iProc.Cal.Acad.Sci.,(2)VI,August18,1896, pp. 338-349.

Proceedings U.S.National Museum,Vol.

XXV—

No.1282.

149

150 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM.

tify toitsoccurrenceatFort

Huachuca.

Dr. Fisheralso collected it at

Fort Bowie

(No. 22207).

HOLBROOKIA MACULATA APPROXIMANS

Baird.

Collected at Fort

Huachuca

l)y Dr.

Wilcox

(Nos. 177ST; 19708- 19722; 21118-21119), Dr.

Mearns

(No. 21012),

and

Dr. Fisher (Nos.

22209-22211).

UTA SYMMETRICA

Baird.

Exceedingly numerous. Lieutenant

Benson

sentin

two

specimens (Nos. 11750-11751); Dr.

Wilcox

fifteen(Nos.1778G; 19690-19703); Dr.

Fishertwenty-five (Nos. 22236-22260);

and

I,myself,obtained

two

as lateas the beginning of

November

(Nos. 15760-15761).

They

are

found from

the Fort itself at least

up

to 6,700 feet altitude in the mountains.

SCELOPORUS SCALARIS

Wiegmann.

Thisspecieshasbeencollectedinthe

Huachuca Mountains

onlyb}'-

Mr.

Price.

Mr.

van

Denburgh

writes:

Mr.Price'snotes indicate thatthisisa rock-dwelling species,andthat itoccurs atgreataltitudes. The specimens collected furnish,I believe,themost northern recordofitsrange. Theyare quitetypical,andwerecollected nearthesummitof theHuachucaMountains,

May

22, 1894,inMorsesCanyon,April7,1894,andatan altitudeof9,500feetintheHuachucaINIountains,July22, 1893.'

SCELOPORUS CLARKII

Baird and Girard.

Apparently common,

])oth at the Fort

and

in the mountains. Dr.

Wilcox

has sent sixspecimens(Nos.17782; 19681-196S6; 21113-21111), oneof

which was

taken ina

room

in hishouse, while Dr. Fishercol- lected ten (Nos.22218-22227),

some

as high

up

as6,000 feet altitude.

The more

specimensone seesof this species the

more

one

wonders

that it

was

ever

confounded

with S. magister.

The

latter does not occurin theHuachucas.

SCELOPORUS JARROVII

Cope.

This lizard is one of the

most common

species in the

Huachuca

Mountains,astestified

by numerous

specimenscollectedby Dr. Fisher (Nos. 22228-22231), Dr."

Wilcox

(Nos. 19687-19689

and

21115-21117),

and

myself (Nos. 15756-15759). It

was

also collected there

by Mr.

Price.^{^}

I

found Yarrow's

lizard among-

exposed

rocks at various places

between

5,700 feet

and

6,700 feet altitude during the first days of

November,

1889.

The

nights

were

verycool

and

the lizards did not

come

out

from

thecracks

and

crevicesintherocksuntil

toward

noon,

when

they could be

found

sunning themselves

on

the whitish rock^,

iProc.Cal.Acad.Sci.,(2)VI,p. 341.

2Idem, (2)VI,p. 342.

I

NO.^128-2.

REPTILES OF HUACHVCA MOUNTAINS— STEJXEGER. I5l

against

which

their dark bodies

formed

a violent contrast.

As

a matterof fact,

when

aliveorrecentlykilled,they

were

of a

uniform

"dead"

sooty black, without the slightest trace of thewhite collar stripes.

When

picking-

up

these black lizards

w

ith theexceedingly

rough and

pricklyscalecoveringIdidnotdoubtthatI

had

before

me

an undescribedspecies,

remembering

well that S.jarrovl!

was

origi- nally characterized as having a very

smooth

pholidosis.

Great was

my amazement,

however, onretuj'ning to

my

quarters

and unpacking

my

booty totindthat these dullblack animals

had changed

inthe

bag

toavery

gorgeous

bluewitha broad blackcollar

most

distinctl}'set offb}^white margins. 1 sup]iose the l^lackness

was due

to the cool temperature

and

that thebrilliantcolorsare chieflyinevidenceduring

warm

weather.

PHRYNOSOMA HERNANDESI

(Girard)

.

Thisseemstobetheconmionestspecies ofhorned-toadat

Huachuca,

fivespecimenshaving beensent in by Dr.

Wilcox

(Nos. 1TT83, 17784;

19681-19683)

and

four

by

Dr. Fisher (Nos. 22316, 22232-22234). It

was

alsocollected there

hy Mr.

Price.'

PHRYNOSOMA CORNUTUM

^(Harlan).

One

specimen(No. 210U1) has beencollected at Fort

Huachuca by

Dr. Wilcox. Dr. Fisher has obtained another at Wilcox, Cochise County,

and Mr.

Pricea third atFairbank.'

GERRHONOTUS KINGII

Gray.

Mr.

Priceobtainedthreespecimensof thisspecies inthe

Huachuca Mountains

during July

and

August, 1S93.'

CNEMIDOPHORUS GULARIS

BairdandGirard.

Four

specimens by Dr.

Wilcox

(Nos. 17785, 19723-19725)

and two by

Dr.Fisher,

from

Fort

Huachuca.

CNEMIDOPHORUS TIGRIS MELANOSTETHUS

(Cope).

According

to van

Denburgh

this species

was

obtained inthe

Hua-

chuca

Mountains by Mr.

Price.^{^}

SERPENTES.

DIADOPHIS REGALIS

BairdandGirard.

A

specimenof this species, typical in every respect,

was

collected

by Mr.

Holzner,atFort

Huachuca, October

11, 1893.

'VanDenburgh,Proc.Cal.Acad.Sci.,(2) VI,1896,p.342.

•'Idem,VI,1896,p.344.

152 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM.

LAMPROPELTIS SPLENDIDA

⁽Baird and Girard)

.

Ophibolasxple,uli<lu.^Baird, U. S. and Mex. Bound. Surv., II, Rept., p. 20, pi.XIV.

A

^finespecimen ofthisbeautifulsnake

was

obtained

by

Dr. Fisher at

Babacomari

Creek,on

May

^'22. Itistypicalineveryrespect,having twenty-threescale

rows and

theverycharacteristic coloration of this form.

Specimens

have been recorded

from

Tucson,'

from

Fort

Bu-

chanan,^

and from

Fort Lowell.'' I have

compared

the

above

speci-

men

with four specimens

from

southern

New Mexico (U.S.N.M.

Nos. 22373-22374, collected

by Mr. Lane

in the Mesilla Valley,

and U.S.N.M.

No. 1849,

two

specimens

from Fort

Filmore),

and

one

from

northern

Texas (U.S.N.M.

No. 1709, collected

by

Dr.

Kennedy between

thePecos

and

the

Rio

Grande),

and

find

them

all alike

and

typical, with twenty-three scale rows. Neither can I discover

any

essential differencesin aspecimen

from San

Diego,

extreme

southern extension of Texas. This form, consequently,

seems

to skirt over

Mexican

border prettyclosely. It probably extends

some

distance southintoMexico,

how

far

we

can onlyconjecture.

There seems

to be no necessity,for the presentat least,to

burden

this

form

witha trinominal. Itistrue that

Western examples

of

what

is usually called " OphilxAuH .wy/,"* especially those

from Arkansas and

Indian Territory

approach

thecolor patternof Z. sj)lendid(i, ])ut inthefirstplace it isonly an " approach/'

and

in the second place theyretainthe

normal number

oftwenty-onescale

rows

characteristic of the

form which we

havejust

named

L.holhrool'!.

LAMPROPELTIS PYRRHOMELiENA

(Cope).

A

verv fine specimen collected ])y Dr. Fisher in the

Huachuca Mountains

atanaltitudeof 6,000feet,on

May

18,belongsto thetyp- ical,white-snouted

form

of thisspecies.

This form,

which

ischaracterized

by

havingthe entiresnoutanterior tothe frontal,includinglabials,paleyellow,

by

havingthefirstblack

'U.S.and Mex. Bound.Surv.,II,Rept.,p. 20.

2Cope, Proc. Phila. Acad.,1860,p.255.

='VanDenburgh,Proc.Cal.Acad.Sci., (2) VI, 1896, p. 847.

*Anewnamemust begiven toHolbrook'sCoronella sayi,andIproposeto callit Lampropeltis holbrooU. The namewasoriginallyproposedbyHolbrook underthe misapprehensionthatitwasthe species previously described bySchlegelasColuber sayi. Holbrook (N. Am. Herpet., 2 ed.. Ill, p. 99) expresslycalls the species

"Coronellasai/i

—

Schlegel;" inthe synonymyhe quotes " Colubersaiji, Schlegel.

Phys. desSerp., torn.II,p.157;" and at theendofthe article(p.101) hesays:

'

'Schlegelwasthefirstnaturalist

who

published a descriptionof thisbeautifulanimal, inhis excellentworkentitled ^'Essai surlaPhysionomiedes Serpens.' " Schlegel's Coluber snyi, however,is an entirelydifferentsnake,viz,Pituophis sayi,and Hol- brook's misapplicationofthe namegivenbySchlegelis consequently inadmissible forthe presentspecies. Thisprincipleisrecognizedbyallcodesofnomenclature, andIneednotspecificallyquote the A. O. U. Code,CanonXXXIII.

NO.1282.

REPTILES OF HUACHVCA MOUNTAINS—

STEJNEGETi.

158

(TOSS

band

oneto

two

scalesbehindthe parietals,and

by

having- a^rcat

number

ofyellowcrossl)ars(varying

from

37to57

from

headtoanus), has thus far been found in western

and

southern Arizonaonly. In California,

from

''northern California,"

whence came

the type of Lockinoton'sBi-lloplil^zonatns^ to

San

Diego,thereoccursa different

form

with fewer yellow bands(30 to42ontheback, inour specimens), and withthesnout and labials blacklike the rest of the head.

The

tirst l)lackcrossbarisevena littlecloser tothe parietals, sometimes touching them. This

form

isclearly entitled to subspeciiic rank and

may

l)ecalledLamjpropeltltipyrrhomeJsemamyltJeincta(Yarrow).'

In

New Mexico and

easternArizona

we

have again another form.

Inthisthesnoutisblack, asinthe California subspecies,but the

num-

l>erof yellowcrossbandsonthebackis stillsmaller (lessthan 3(^;23 inour specimens)

and

thefirst blackcross

band

isfarther back, being

removed from

the parietals

by

three totive scales. This

form

needs a

name and

IproposeforitLaiiipi'opelt'iHpyrrJionK-lpena<'<'hv)}<p.sr

It willbe seen that Ihave ignored Blainville's

name

(nluhfr zon- atux.^ which Boulenger, following Lockington's example, has recently revived for the present species. Blainville's description is very incomplete

and

differs, especiallyinthe coloration, so

much from

an}^

specimenIhave seen that the identity of hissnake with the present species appears very improbable.

The

tj^pehas beenlost, as

we

are informed1)}^Bocourt,

and

thereseems no

way

ofexactly determining to

which

speciesthe

name

belongs.

Under

thesecircumstances

T

think

itbetter to

drop

italtogether as unidentitiablewith

any known

snake, especially sincethereisno proofthat thetype

came from

a locality in

which

the speciesheretreated ofhasbeen obtained

by

later collectors.

The

character

by which

Boulenger^separates the present species

from

his C. micropliolls, viz, "firstblack

band

onnapeonly'' of the

former

asagainst"firstl)lack ])and

forming

acomplete ring extend- ing across the throat" of thelatter,^does not hold atall, since

we

havein the collection atleast

two

('aliforniaspecimens in

which

the ringiscomplete,extendingacrossthe throat.

PITUOPHIS CATENIFER DESERTICOLA

Stejneger.

Three

specimens collected

by

Dr. Wilcox, one in the

immediate

vicinityof the fort, anotheratanaltitudeof 5,300feet (Nos. 17701, 19675, 21105).

There

isalso aspecimen

from

Lieutenant

Benson

(No.

11744).

^Ophiholusgeiuhis rnidtichirla><Ya.rroy,y,Proc.U.S.Nat.Mu8.,V, 1882,p.440.

'Ti/pe.—r.H.'NM.No. 22375; locality,Mesilla Valley,

New

Mexico, H.B. Lane, coll.

"Cat.SnakesBrit. Mus.,II, 1894, p. 190.

••In thesynonymyof CoronellamicropholisBoulengercuriouslyenoughcites

my

Lampropeliis annulatus (Proc.U.S.Nat. Mus., XIV,1891, p. 503) asagainstKenni- cott's L. annulata,which he placesunderC.genlilis,in spite of thefact that

my

remarksarebaseduponandchiefly refer toKennicott'stype specimens.

154 PROCEEDTNaS OF THE NATTONAL MUSEUM.

SALVADORA HEXALEPIS

(Cope).

Three

specimens

from

Fort

Huachuca, two young

ones

by

Dr.

Wilcox

(Nos. 17792,17793)

from

the

immediate

vicinityof the fort,

and

one

by

Dr. Fisher(No. 22201), collectedApril 28,1892.

None

of these specimenspossessthesubocular

which

orave rise to establishmentof the

name

hexalepis^

and which

hasbeen variouslycon- sidered as characteristic of a subspecific

form

inhabiting the

more

westerndeserts.^

Mr.

van Denlnirgh' has

shown

thatthischaracteris

not constant

enough

to

warrant

the I'ctention of a subspeciiic

form

thusrestricted.

The

use of the

name

Salvad<>r((//^',w/,:^y->/.vforour specimens therefore requiresanexplanation.

By

acarefulexaminationof a large

number

ofspecimens

from Texas

ontheoneside,

and from Arizona and

farther west onthe other, 1

found

thatthe

former

belongtothe species called Salvador'^ haird!

by

Jan, having all the essential characters of this form,hitherto attributed to

Mexico

onh',

remarking

atthe

same

time that these differences are those of scutellation,notof color,

which

is

equally

and

similarlyvariableinbothspecies. It

now

turnsout,

how-

ever, thatBaird and Girard's type specimen of Salvadora graham'tm belongsto the eastern species

and

thatJan's S.haird'iconsequentlyisa

pure

S3^nonym.

The Arizona and

California speciesthereforecan not remain undertheold

name

S. grahaiiil(V^butS. hexalepU,being based

upon

an

Arizona

specimen perfectly typical of the species,

becomes

available.

The

S3

nonymy

ofthe

two

species Avouidthus standas follows:

SALVADORA

GRAHAMIiEBairdandGirard.

X^Z.—Salvadoragrahamiit'Baird and Girard,Serp.N.Am..\<.101.

I860.—,Sa7('ar?oraban-f/iJax, Icon.Gon.Ophiri., Pt.1.pi.iii.%.^2.

SALVADORA

HEXALEPIS(Cope).

I860.—.S'ateadoragrahamiJan, Icon.G6n. Ophid.,Pt.1,pi.in,fig.1(notiS.i/rahamuvBairdand Girard).

1866.—PhimothyrahexalepisCope, Proc.Phila.Aead. Nat.Sci.,1866, p. 304.

Most

of the characters separating these

twg

species areverywell

shown

ⁱⁿthe

two

figures of

Jan

quoted above.^{-^}

These

differencesare as follows:

In S.grahamiw. the frontal is comparatively longer

and narrower

behind; the parietalsare alsolonger

and

comparatively narrower; the frontalisless

wide and

its edges notraisedso

much from

the nasals;

the first pair of infralabials is normal;

and

the second pair of chin shieldsare in contactorseparated

by

at

most

onescale.

In S. hexalepis the frontalisshorter

and

broader; the parietals are

^See

my

notes inN.Am.Fauna, No.7,1893,pp. 205-206.

5Proc.Cal.Ac.Sci. (2),V,

May

28,1895,pp. 146-147.

^Bocourt(Miss. Sc.Mex.,Ill,Kept.,pi.xliii,figs.2and3) figureswhat hecon- siders;S'.grahamiwandhairdi,butboth specimensfigured evidentlybelongtothe samespecies, viz,

K

grahamiie.

I

REPTILES OF HVACHIJCA MOUNTAINS— STEJNEGER.

^-

155

alsoshortened; the rostralisvery

wide and

its edj^es detached; first pair of infralabials areelongated ver}^

much

posteriorly,

forming

an unusuallylongsuture,whilethementalisreducedtoa

minimum;

the secondpair of chin shieldsar(^separated

by

one or

two

pairs ofscales.

In the materialIhav^^.been

going

over at present 1 tind no inter- gradation,

and

consequentlyadoptabinominalappellation for the

two

forms.

As might

be expected, one or the other of the characters pointed out above

may

beless

pronounced

in

some

specimens thanin others,butthey hold as well or better than in

most

other cases of nearly related species of snakes.

BASCANION FLAGELLUM FRENATUM

^Stejneger.

Four

adultspecimens perfectl}'characteristic ofthis

form

areinthe collections

from

Fort

Huachuca, two by

Dr.

Wilcox

(Nos. 19676, 19677)and

two by

Dr. Fisher,

May

27, 1892(Nbs. 22197, 22198).

BASCANION SEMILINEATUM

Cope.

Thisspecies,

which was

onlyrecently described,appearstobe rather

connnon among

the trees

and

bushes in the

Huachuca

Mountains.

Lieutenant

Benson

sentthe

Museum two

very large specimens (Nos.

11715, 11716), Dr.

Wilcox

one (No. 19678),

and

Dr. Fisher one (No.

22200).

Van Denburgh

^{^} alsorecords one specimencollected

by

Price in the

Huachuca

Mountains,

June

30, 1891. Dr. Fisher caught one (No. 22199) at Fort Bowie, Arizona, on

May

21, 1891, swallowing a

young Woodhouse's

jayinthenest.

This very ^distinct

and

readily recognizedspeciesis excellentlyfig-

ured by GiintherintheReptilepart oftheBiologiaCentrali- Americana.^

Inallour specimens,how^ever, the posterior half of the frontalis

much narrower

thaninthe outline

drawing

of thehead onthe plate justcited.

RHINOCHEILUS LECONTEI

^{Baird and}Girard.

Two

specimens

from

Fort

Huachuca, by

Dr.

Wilcox

(Nos. 2110, 2111).

THAMNOPHIS CYRTOPSIS

Kennicott.

There

are six specimens of thissnake in the collection

from Fort Huachuca,

viz:

Four by

Dr.

Wilcox

(Nos.17791,17795, 19679, 21112), one

by

Dr.

Mearns

(No. 21060),

and

one

by

Dr. Fisher (No. 22205.)

Two

of Dr.Wilcox's specimensare

from

''the immediatevicinityof thepost."'

Ihave

examined

intothequestionof the alleged subspeciesof the presentspecieswith

some

care. In the first place, it turns out that Cope'soceUata,

from

Helotes,Texas, isabsolutely identicalAvith

Ken

nicott's typeof cyrtojms(U. S. Nat. Mus., No. 930,

from

Rinconada, Coahuila,

Mexico;

not

Durango,

Mexico,^{as alleged}

by

^Cope.)''

These

specimens,itistrue,differ

from most

otherspecimens in the collec-

iProc.Cal.Acad.Sci. (2),VI,Aug.18,1896, p. 347.

5PI.XLVI,fig.A.

3Proc.U.S.Nat.Mus.,XIV,1891, p. 656.

156 PROCEEDTNGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM.

^vol.xxv.

tionb}'larger spotsonthe sides

under

thelateral lin(\])vahorseshoe- shaped black

mark

onthesuturesof theseventhsupralal)ial

and

^l)ythe dorsal linenotreaching- the parietals,butthere

seem

to he too

many

exceptions to

make

it expedient torecognizea subspecies based on these characters.

Thus among

the

Huachuca

specimens No. 22205 hasthespotsbelowthe lateralline as

heavy

as thetypeof cyrtojMis^

and

the horseshoe

mark

is clearly indicated.

Then,

again, in the Coahuila specimens without^this

mark and

the spots the dorsal line does not reach the parietals, while a specimen

from San

Antonio,

Texas

(No. 22387), has

heavy

spots,but

no

horseshoe,

and

the dorsal linereachesthe parietals.

With

thepresentmaterial, therefore,

lam

unabletorecognize

any

subspeciesof T.cy7'topsis.

TANTILLA WILCOXI,

newspecies.

DIfujnosis.

— Eye more

than half aslong as the snout; frontal less than twiceasbroadas the posteriorborderof thesupraocular; seven

upper

labials; twopostoculars; frontal six-sided, anteriorangleobtuse, posterior acute; ventralsabout150;

two

pairs of chin-shields, anterior pair longer than posterior; rostral

much

broader than deep; frontal once

and

a half aslongasbroad, longer thaninterparietalsuture; hrst lower la))ials not in contact behind the mental; posterior nasal

and

preocular large, broadly in contact; a white coUar

two

scales wide justbehindthe parietals

and

takingintheir

extreme

posterior angle, followedb}^a

narrow

dark

band

only one

and

a half scales wide.

Ilahitat.

—

Southern Arizona.

Ty2)e.—^o. 19674,

U.S.N.M.;

Fort

Huachuca,

Arizona; Dr. T. E.

Wilcox,coll.

Description

of

^thetype.

— Head

broad,especially acrossthe temples,

much

wider than neck; eye large,

more

than half as long as the snout,

and

nearlytwiceas large asitsdistance

from

theconuuissure;

rostral

much

wider than high,the portion visible

from above

equals the internasal suture; internasals short, lessthanhalf as large as the prefrontals,thelower borderof

which

is

wedged

in

between

posterior nasal

and

preocular. but notin contactwithsupralabials; frontal six- sided,the anteriorangle obtuse, the posterior acute, the lateral sides converging backward, ^itswidth about two-thirds its length

and

less than twice the width of the supraoculars, its length equaling the interparietal suture,

though

slightlyshorter thanthe parietals; supra- oculars,ratherlarger, theirwidth

more

thanhalf that of the frontal;

parietalsas long as their distance

from

tipof snout; nasals

and

pre- ocular ofabout equal size,the latterbroadlyincontactwith posterior nasal; one prebcular;

two

postoculars; temporals

1+1,

long

and

nar- row; supralabials7,seventh veryhigh, third low,fourth nearly twice aswideas third,both enteringeye; infralabials7,fourincontactwith anterior chin-shields,firstpairnotincontactwith each other behind

men-

tal; anterior chin-shieldsverylong,nuuli longer than second; 15

rows

NO.1282.

REPTILES OF HUA CHUG A MO UNTA INS—STEJNEGER 157

of

smooth

scales; threepairs of scales

between

posterior chin-shields andventrals; ventrals 152; anal divided; 40caudals(taildefective).

Color (inalcohol)verypale

brownish

gra}",withoutstripes, lighter underneath; top of head

dark brownish

gray, the dark color barely encircling theeyes

and

descending broadlyto the connnissure atthe suture

between

the sixth

and

seventhsupralabials; awhitesemicoliar justbehind the parietalstakingintheir

extreme

posterior angle,

two

scales wide, followed ])y a dark-brownish

grav band

only one

and

a half scales wide.

Total length 184

mm.;

^tail(defective)40

mm.

Remarls. —

^This

new

species,

which

1take pleasurein

naming

forits discoverer. Col.

Timothy

E. Wilcox, surgeon,

U.

S. A.,seems to be

more

nearly related to TantiUa melanocephala^ distributed invarious forms through Central

and South America,

than to

any

of theother species hitherto

found

in the United States. It has the

same wide

headdistinctlyset off

from

theneckas well as the large eye,but the frontalappearstobelonger,

and

thefirstpair of infralabials are sepa- ratedl)vthemental.

The

coloration of thehead isalsoverydifferent, resemblingasitdoes, superticially that ofT.coronata. Itisprobabl}' the

same

species to

which Mr. van Denburgh

refers

under

the

name

ofT.coronata^aspecimencollected

by Mr.

Price, alsonearHuachuca,^

but the true T.

conmata

has a differently shaped head,

more com-

pressed

and

tapering in front of the eyes

and

less

wide

across the temples,nuich smallereyes

and

smallersupraoculars.

The

coloration of the head is slightlydifferent also,

inasmuch

as the dark collaris

widerinthe latter

and

the supralabials are dark colored infront of the eye. light behind.

Now

thatGiinther hasdescribed Bocourt's

Mexican

Ilomalocranion coronatiuii asII. hocourti;-it

seems

probablethat T. coronata does not occurin

Mexico

atall. It

would

then beinteresting to

know what

is

Garman's

T. coronata,

from San

LuisPotosi.^

TRIMORPHODON LYROPHANES

Cope.

A

singlespecimen(No. 19673)

was

obtainedat the fort

by

Dr.

Wilcox

in1892. Ithas 22scale

rows and

9 supralabials.

Thisspecieshasbeen takeninotherplaces insouthern Arizona,viz,

by Henshaw

(No. 8760)in October, 1874,

and

])y Dr. Irwin at Fort

Buchanan

(No. 5283).

ELAPS EURYXANTHUS

Kennicott.

Of

thisvery interestingsnakethereisaspecimen(No. 17790)

from

the

immediate

vicinity of the fort at

Huachuca,

collected

by

Dr.

Wilcox, while Dr. Fisher's collection contains a specimen

from

Fort

Bowie

(No. 22194).

1Proc.Cal.Acad.Sci.(2),VI,August18, 1896, p. 346.

2Biol.Centr.-Amer., Kept.,p. 149.

'Bull.Ess.Inst,XIX,1887, p. 128.

158 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM.

^vol.xxv.

SISTRURUS CATENATUS EDWARDSII

(BairdandGirard).

A

sing-lespecimenofthe

Western

massasaiiga. collected

by

Dr.Wil- cox

on

the parade

ground

of Fort

Huachuca

(No. 17789),isthe only definiterecord of this specieswestofthe

Rio

Grande, excepta speci-

men

collected

by

Henshavvin

"southern Arizona"

(No. 8109).

CROTALUS PRICEI Van

Denburgh.

This rattlesnake, so distinct

from

allthe other species occurring within theUnitedStates,

was

describedin'1895b}^

Mr.

van Den])urgh

from

five specimens collected

by Mr. W. W.

Priceinthe

Huachuca

Mountains. Curiously enough, ithas not been obtained

hy any

ofthe parties collecting for the

United

StatesNational

Museum.

CROTALUS MOLOSSUS

^BairdandGirard.

Two

highly colored specimens of this

handsome

rattler have been sent in

by

Dr. Wilcox, viz, Nos. 17788

and

21107.

The

first-men- tioned one

was

taken in the

canyon above

the fort atan altitude of about5,500feet.

CROTALUS ATROX

BairdandGirard.

Four

specimens

from

Fort

Huachuca,

viz,

two by

Lieutenant

Benson

(Nos.11712, 11713)

and two by

Dr.

Wilcox

(Nos. 21108, 21109),

dem-

onstrate

most

convincingly the utter unreliability of the so-called C. scutulatnx. Benson's smaller specimen(No. 11712)has the scutel- lationonthe anteriorportionof theheadof the typical C. atro.f. No.

21109 has

two

enlargedscute-like scales

between

theanterior half of the supraoculars,preceded

and

followed

by

small scales; No. 21108 hassimilarlyenlargedscales, which,however, arepreceded

by

apair just like them,

and

followed

by

anotherpair

somewhat

smaller; the fourth, averylarge specimen, is

somewhat

intermediate

between

the three others, as it has

two

pairs of large scales

between

the supra- oculars,separated on the

median

line, however,

by

a series of small scales, while the

median

space infront of the interocularsiscovered withsmallscales.

Thisisafair

example

ofthestatus of thisalleged species,not only in this localitybut

wherever

it isfound. It isnothing but an indi- vidual variation,

more common

in the

Rocky Mountain and

Sierra

Madre

region, perhaps,than elsewhere, but

nowhere

attainingsucha percentageofstabilit}'as towarrant itsrecognitionevenasasubspe- ciesorrace.

CROTALUS LEPIDUS

Kennicott.

Two

specimens

from Fort Huachuca

have beensentin

by

Dr. Wil- cox (Nos. 19672, 21100), one without head. This rare snakeseems to be not

uncommon

inthis region, asfour specimenswei"e collected

by Mr.

Pricenear Fort

Lowell and

inthe

Huachuca

Mountains.^

1

Van

Denburgh,Proc.Cal.Acad.ScL, (2), VI, 189 6,p. 348,

I