86 KANSAS ACADEMY OF SCIENCE. 



in the town of Medicine Lodge. It essentially agrees with the generic descriptions 

 given by Baird and Girard, and Garman. The large rostral plate, while "not prom- 

 inent above " as compared with that of Heterodon, is nevertheless seen to have a 

 slight absolute elevation, when viewed tangentially to the upper surface of the muz- 

 zle; it is also somewhat prominent at the sides, and is well produced anteriorly. 

 While much less sharply compressed and pointed than in Heterodon, its peculiar and 

 on the whole prominent development seems to indicate a burrowing habit. It de- 

 parts noticeably from descriptions of R. Lecontei in the relation of the upper labials 

 to the orbit — a fact to which Prof. Cope called my attention before I had studied 

 the specimen. The upper labials are, as usual, eight in number — ^the seventh largest 

 — but the fifth alone enters the orbit, nor does the fourth very closely approach it, 

 being crowded out by the upper part of the fifth, which is laterally much produced. 

 There are nine lower labials, the fifth largest. The ventral scutellse are 206; the sub- 

 caudal 54, of which the first 45, the 47th, and the 49th, are entire, the others bifid. 



Baird and Girard's description of this species says, "Prefrontals large compared 

 to the post-frontals." It would certainly seem that this must be a mistake. In any 

 event, the Kansas specimen is like most other serpents in having the post-frontals 

 emphatically large as compared with the prefrontals. The loral plate is long and 

 narrow. The orbitals and the number of rows of dorsal scales are as in other de- 

 scribed specimens of this species. 



The number of transverse dorsal black bands considerably exceeds that hitherto 

 seen in this species, being forty-five — the thirty-third opposite the anus. The snout 

 and the dorsal surface between the black bands are bright red, the lateral flecks in 

 those bands bright yellow. The ventral surface of the body is rather sparsely marked 

 with more or less subquadrate black spots of various sizes. 



The tail is relatively somewhat longer than is indicated by authors for R. Lecontei, 

 being j\ ( or nearly ^ instead of nearly J ) of the total length. 



This red and jet and golden reptile is, in life, one of the most beautiful serpents 

 of North America. It might well be called the Belle Snake, in allusion to the elegance 

 of its appointments. It is one of those brilliant faunal features so common in sub- 

 tropical lands, and of which we see just the beginnings on the southern border of 

 "sunny Kansas." The locality at which the specimen was found is not far from the 

 isothermal line of 60°, which passes thence northwestward to the vicinity of Fort 

 Wallace. The species, known only from the southwestern portion of its range 

 ( southern California ) when first described, and later found at various localities to 

 the southeast, east, and northeast, is here recorded from a locality which must rep- 

 resent nearly its extreme northeastern limit. 



Previous to seeing this specimen, a snake which could hardly have been of other 

 than this species was described to me as occurring a few miles west of Medicine Lodge. 

 The species doubtless belongs also to the fauna of southern Colorado. 



As this form is likely to prove but a variety of R. Lecontei, I will not venture to 

 assign it a name, but will merely suggest that if it should at length appear that its 

 distinctive characters are stable, it should be named after Prof. Cope, who is its true 

 scientific discoverer. 



ADDITIONS FOR 1885 AND 1SS6 TO THE LIST OF KANSAS COLEOPTERA. 



]{V WAHHEN KNAUS, M'I'HP^RSON, KAS. 



Of the following list, four species, Nos. 5581. 5587, .5613, and .5624, were taken by 

 Mr. E. H. Kern, in Rooks county, in June and July, 1885. The remaining 51 species 

 were taken principally in the counties of Rooks, Norton. Phillips, Cloud, Saline, and 

 Finney. The collections from Rooks, Norton, Cloud, and Phillips counties were 



