The King Snakes 



Total Length ^| inches. 



Length of Tail 4I 



Greatest Diameter -j-"^ " 



Width of Head ^''j " 



Length of Head i 



Distribution. — Southern Utah and Nevada; southern Cali- 

 fornia and Arizona. 



Habits. — A single specimen of this beautiful reptile lived 

 for about a year in the writer's collection. It was very shy in 

 its feeding and could not be induced to take anything but very 

 young mice, although very small snakes and lizards were fre- 

 quently placed in its cage. While often handled by friends 

 of the writer, it never attempted to bite, but would coil about 

 one's fingers and become perfectly quiet as if enjoying the warmth 

 of the hand. 



SAY'S KING SNAKE 

 Ophibolus gclulus, variety sayi (Holbrook) 



This curiously spotted snake is one of the varieties of the 

 largest species of the genus Ophibolus. It attains a length of 

 3i to 4 feet. The body is stout and distinctly cylindrical (not 

 tapering so gradually from the greatest diameter as do most 

 serpents, but retaining a uniform thickness for a great part of 

 the length). The head is small and but slightly distinct from 

 the neck. 



Colouration. — This form is, itself, subject to some variation, 

 though the general tendency of the paler hue is to form a small 

 spot in the centre of each scale. 



The commonest phase is black, with a pale green or white 

 spot in the centre of each scale. The abdomen is yellow, with 

 large, black blotches. 



On numerous specimens the spots evince a tendency to unite 

 into narrow cross-bands on the back at regular intervals, which 

 are about the same distance apart as the bands of the typical 

 form. In the areas between these fused lines of spots, the other 

 scales possess the same spotted appearance as with the first phase 

 described. Other specimens possess this character carried to a 

 more extreme degree. At regular intervals across the back, the 

 spots unite in narrow, sharply delineated lines, while between 

 these bands there are solid black areas; the scales on the sides 



358 



