BRANSON : SNAKES OF KANSAS. 399 



teen, Loreal small. Temporals 2-2, rarely 1-2 or 2-3. Ocu- 

 lars 1-2. Pregenials much longer than postgenials. Tail 

 short. Head little distinct. 



This species is very variable. It ranges from a spotted 

 brown snake to a snake with black and bright scarlet rings. 

 Cope (10. 883) distinguishes twelve varieties. In his classifi- 

 cation he has made many arbitrary distinctions. In some 

 instances the coloration of the anterior part of the body of 

 specimens that I have examined agrees with one of Cope's va- 

 rieties, and that of the posterior agrees with another. Occurs 

 throughout the state, but is less numerous than formerly. 



KEY TO KANSAS SUBSPECIES. 



I.— An oblique yellow band behind eye O. doUatus triangulus- 



II. — No oblique band behind eye. 



a. Dorsal bands closed on or above the gastrosteges. 



O. doliafus doliatus. 



b. Dorsal spots connected by a longitudinal black band. Black borders of 



dorsal spots forming rings around the body O. doliatus gentilis. 



Ophibolus doliatus triangulus Cope. 



Ophibolus eximus Baird and Girard, Cat. N. Amer. Rept., 1858, Pt. I, Serp., 

 p. 87. 



Ophibolus doliafus triangulus Cope, Check-list N. Amer. Batr. Rept., 1875, 

 p. 37. 



Osceola doliata triangula Cope, Rept. Nat. Mus., p. 885. 



Cornelia triangtdum Boulenger, Cat. Snakes Brit. Mus., II, 1894, p. 200. 



Fig. 23. 

 Ophibolus doliatus triangulus Cope. 



Scales smooth, in twenty-one rows ; longer than is common 

 in these species. Frontal shield-shaped. Occipitals broad, 

 truncate. Superciliaries larger than in the other subspecies. 

 Prefrontals large, pentagonal, wider than long. Internasals 



4-Rull., No. 13. 



