VOL. XVIII, PP. 73-78 FEBRUARY 21, 1905 



PROCEEDINGS 



OF THE 



BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON 



GENERAL NOTES. 



A SNAKE NEW TO THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 



[By Permission of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution.] 



In his " List of the Batrachians and Reptiles of the District of Columbia 

 and Vicinity" (Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, XV, 1902, pp. 121-145) Prof. 

 W. P. Hay enumerated 21 species of snakes as of more or less certain 

 occurrence in the District. I am now able to add a species, viz: Cemophora 

 coccinea (Blumenbach). 



A specimen of the " Scarlet Snake " was presented recently to the 

 National Museum by Dr. I. W. Blackburn, of the Government Hospital 

 for the Insane, who kindly writes me regarding its origin as follows : 



"The specimen of Cumophora coccinea came into my possession alive, 

 about the summer of 1893. It was captured by an employee of St. Eliza 

 beth Hospital, in the vicinity of Anacostia." 



It is now No. 35,308, U. S. National Museum. 



Compared with the other snakes in the District of Columbia, as defined 

 in. Prof. Hay's List, it belongs to the non-venomous section with smooth 

 scales ; anal plate not divided ; underside of body is uniformly white, thus 

 differing from the three species of Lamprnpeltis with which it otherwise 

 agrees most. An important structural character is the prominent and 

 somewhat conical rostral which even caused Schlegel to place it in the 

 genus Hderodon. 



This record extends the known range of the species considerably. It 

 has been known from Louisiana to Florida and north to South Carolina, 

 and has been regarded as a southern snake characteristic of the Austro- 

 riparian region. Early in May, 1891, a live specimen was sent to the 

 museum from St. Margarets, Anne Arundel Co., Maryland, by Mr. A. A. 

 Stinchcomb, but unfortunately it escaped. A drawing and color descrip 

 tion made from the living animal show that the determination was cor 

 rect. These are the two most northern records. As the colors of the living 

 snake are of interest a description of the last-mentioned specimen follows: 



Iris chestnut ; tongue anteriorly pale flesh color deepening backward to 

 coral red ; top of head in front of the postfrontal black cross-band, as well as 

 11 PKOC. BIOL. Soc. WASH., VOL. XVIII, 1905. (73) 



