REPTILES 223 



Key to the Species of Sonora 



ai Scales in 13 rows S. taylori. 



a-) Scales in 15 rows. 



bi Ventrals 145 to 153; subcaudals 35 to 57. 



Ci From southern Texas to southeastern California S. cpiscopa. 



C2 From Nevada to southern Kansas S. semiannulata. 



be Ventrals 158; subcaudals 34 S. occipitalis. 



S. taylori (Boulenger). Length 270 mm.; tail 55 mm.; color pale 

 brown above, white beneath: southern Texas. 



S. episcopa (Kennicott). Color ashen to rosy, usually with a rosy 

 vertebral stripe; belly uniform whitish green; ventrals 163: Texas to 

 southeastern California. 



S. semiannulata B. & G. Length 230 mm.; tail 40 mm.; color ashen 

 or pink, crossed by about 20 black half rings; belly white: southern 

 Kansas to Nevada and Arizona. 



S. occipitalis (Hollowell). Length 323 mm.; tail 53 mm.; color 

 milk white above, with 34 transverse black bands; belly white: Colo- 

 rado to southeastern California. 



20. Cemophora Cope. Small, harmless snakes with smooth scales 

 in 19 rows; ventrals about 170; upper labials 6: i species. 



C. coccinea (Blumenbach). Length 410 mm.; tail 60 mm.; color 

 scarlet, with about 20 pairs of black cross bands, each pair enclosing a 

 yellow band; belly white or yellow; top of head red or orange: southern 

 and Gulf States from Maryland to the Mississippi; common in Florida; 

 very similar in appearance to the poisonous coral snakes, but differing 

 from them in having a plain, unblotched belly; similar also to the 

 scarlet king-snake which differs from it in that its rings nearly encircle 

 the body. 



21. Rhinocheilus Baird & Girard. Small snakes with smooth scales 

 in 23 rows and undivided subcaudals: i species. 



R. Iccontei B. & G. Length 600 mm.; tail 85 mm.; color black and 

 red, there being ^^ large square black blotches alternating with red 

 bands; belly white: western Kansas and Texas into California. 



22. Hypsiglena Cope. Small poisonous snakes with smooth scales 

 in 21 rows; rear teeth in upper jaw enlarged and grooved; pupil vertical: 

 I species. 



H. ochrorhynchus Cope. Length 675 mm.; tail 75 mm.; color gray 

 with about 48 large brown spots on the body and 2 alternating series on 

 the tail; 2 lateral series; ventrals 167; subcaudals 55: western Texas to 

 southeastern California. 



