1915.] NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA. 165 



found along the water courses near Billy's Lake. Here they climb 

 up the bushes and small trees which skirt some of the streams of the 

 swamp. Our first specimen was 6 feet up above the water, and they 

 have ascended 10 or more feet in our few experiences with them. 

 They are probably far more common than our collection might imply, 

 but their position, the cover of the dense herbage and the color of 

 the body, all make them rather difficult to find. 



Breeding. — This is an ovoviviparous snake and three specimens 

 taken June 1, 3 and 15, 1912, had the eggs quite immature. One 

 had 18 on the left side and 15 on the right side; another had 14 in 

 all, 8 on the right side and 6 on the left side. 



Food. — No doubt this form secures much of its food in the bushes 

 and trees it so commonly frequents, and true to the reputation of 

 E. ohsoletus of the north this Okefinokee representative proves an 

 enemy of the birds. The natives steadfastly held that it ate birds' 

 eggs and young. One specimen had partaken of some kind of eggs 

 and a second individual had birds' feathers in its stomach. A 

 third snake had eaten the pine-wood's tree frog {Hyla femoralis). 

 This species also frequents the islands and feeds on the ground. 

 Here they do damage to the ground-nesting birds, as many of the 

 other species of snakes do. They also often enter poultry yards 

 for rats and mice as well as the hens' eggs. One of the native boys 

 brought us a pilot snake which he claimed was caught in the act of 

 swallomng a hen's egg, and stomach contents substantiated his 

 claim. They report that they have taken some which had eaten 

 as many as ten at one time. None of these six snakes had parasites. 



8. Lampropeltis doliatus COCCineus (Schlegel): Scarlet King Snake; Red King Snake; "Coral 

 Snake." Fig. 7. 



Six specimens of this fine, l)eautiful snake were taken on Billy's 

 Island. The nearest records are from Fernandina, Fla. (C. F. 

 Batchelder), and from Gainesville, Fla. (J. Bell). Each of these 

 Cope accredits to the form Osceola elapsoidea Holbrook. 



Coloration. — Ground color scarlet (fainter below) covered with 

 14-20 pairs of black rings on the body from head to anus and with 

 3-6 pairs on the tail. These rings inclose white or yellowish intervals, 

 which are 1-1 1 scales wide on the dorsum and 2|-3 scales wide on 

 the side, the black rings themselves each being 2-4 scales wide. In 

 only one specimen. No. 6,240, do the rings completely and perfectly 

 encircle the body for its entire length, and, in the caudal region, the 

 abdominal white interval has a black spot between the black rings. 

 In the other specimens the rings just fall short of meeting each other 



