198 Trans. Acad. Sci. of St. Louis. 



raised above the surface of the marsh. These serpents 

 were mostly true water snakes, such as Natrix rhombifer, 

 Natrix fasciata transversa, and Natrix erytlirog aster, also 

 one si3ecimen of the Ijined Snake, Tropidoclonium line- 

 atum, and numerous stump-tail Mocassins, Agkistrodon 

 piscivorus. During the rainy season the snakes fairly 

 swarm here, but they are more numerous in point of num- 

 bers than species. On this occasion I was trying to dis- 

 cover something new in the line of snakes and chancing to 

 cast my eye on a patch of rushes on the border of the wa- 

 ter some yards away, my gaze was at once riveted upon a 

 most beautiful creature. Through the rushes in and out 

 swam a sinuous body, the form of the most beautiful of 

 serpents, the Bead, Coral or Harlequin Snake. This ser- 

 pent with its bands of bright red, yellow and black con- 

 trasting with the brilliant green of the rushes and the 

 dull color of the marsh water, made one of the most fasci- 

 nating and interesting sights that I have ever gazed upon. 

 The specimen I now beheld was probably three and a half 

 feet long, in fact longer than any specimen I have ever 

 collected. I was eager to capture the serpent but although 

 I made the effort, the Elaps proved to be the quicker of 

 the two and made for the deeper water, where it disap- 

 peared. The principal haunts of this snake are woods in 

 the vicinity of ponds, springs and streams. Their food 

 consists for the greater part of other snakes, such as small 

 specimens of various water snakes and Garter snakes, but 

 although other reptiles and batrachians are eaten the 

 stomachs of the smaller specimens I have dissected con- 

 tained remains of small ground snakes, such as the Grace- 

 ful Tantilla {Tantilla gracilis) and the little Brown Snake, 

 Haldea striatula, as well as a few small water snakes, 

 among them the Ribbon Snake {Thamnophis proxima). 

 I am inclined to believe that if these snakes were armed 

 with movable fangs, as the Rattle Snakes, they would 

 prove much more dangerous, as they recover themselves 

 much more rapidly after striking than any member of the 

 Crotalidae I am acquainted with; as it is they are com- 



