POISONOUS SNAKES OV NORTH AMERICA. 



357 



Thus it Las very small eyes, smaller than the shields between which 

 the nostrils are placed, while in the inocuous snakes the eyes are con- 

 siderably larger. The snout of the Elaps is short, blunt, and rounded, 

 while in the others it is elongate, conical, more or less pointed. More- 

 over, in the former the frontal shield is small, less than one-half the 

 size of one of the parietals, the latter much more than one-half. 



Fig. 3. 



PROFILE VIEW OF SKULL OF ELAPS. 

 (After Jan.) 



Fig. 4. 



PROFILE OF SKULL OF LAIIPROPELTIS 



(After Jan.) 



Fig. 5. 



COLOR PATTERN OF ELAPS. 

 (After Jan. i 



With the live animals, free or captive, these characteristics are often 

 difficult of application. In such cases it is necessary to rely upon dif- 

 ferences in the color pattern as a means of identification. 



There are in the United States only two well-defined species of EIa2)s. 

 The characteristic coloration of these consists of a series of transverse 

 rings of black, vermilion, 

 and yellow. This pattern is 

 repeated in several species 

 and subspecies of the genus 

 Lamirropeltia (or OpMboJus), 

 known as "Scarlet King- 

 snake," L. doliatus; "Eed 

 king snake," L. coccineus; "Kinged Khig-snake," L. annulatus; 

 "Arizona king snake," L. pyrrliomelas, etc., as well as "Osceola's 

 Snake," Osceola eJapsoideu; the "Scarlet Snake," Cemophora coccine, 

 and to a less extent in "Le Conte's Snake," Rhinocheilus lecontei, all or 

 some of which inhabit the same region as one or the other species of 



Elaps. In all of these red, 



?^-l^'^"' '^"^-W" "'■^^°*»s*. black, and yellowish is 

 " ' ' arranged in more or less 



perfect transverse rings. 

 Le Conte\s Snake is less 

 characteristic and like the 

 Cemophora^ easily told apart by having the entire under surface whitish, 

 while in the others, including the Elaps, the red and black is more or 

 less continued across the belly. There is one fundamental difference 

 in the arrangement seen in the species of Elaps within our boundary 

 and that in Lampropeltis, Osceola^ and Cemophora, which is that in 

 our Elaj)es that black rings are uorderd on each side by a yellowish 

 ring (fig. 5) while in the others the yellow rings are bordered on each 

 side by a black ring (fig. (»). 



Fig. 6. 



COLOR PATTERN OF LA.MPROPELTI.'^ 



(Alter Jan ' 



