28. COLUBER 



Parral, Ensenada, San Ignacio, Santa Rosalia, and San Luis 

 Gonzales Bay, in the northern part of the peninsula, and at 

 Cape San Lucas, La Paz, San Jose del Cabo, Miraflores, San 

 Pedro, Triunfo, San Bartolo, Agua Caliente, and Todos 

 Santos, in the Cape Region, on Santa Margarita Island, on 

 the west coast, and on San Jose, Monserrate, Coronado, 

 Udefonso, and Tiburon islands in the Gulf of California. 



Habits. — The "Red Racer," like its relatives, is remark- 

 able for the quickness of its movements. It climbs trees 

 and bushes with great agility. Grinnell & Grinnell give the 

 following notes on its habits: 



"According to our experience the Red Racer is an inhabi- 

 tant exclusively of the hot gravelly washes along the bases 

 of the mountains. As with most of our snakes, it was more 

 common ten or fifteen years ago than now. Yet within the 

 past year, 1906, we know of three having been seen in the 

 arroyo near Pasadena. 



"The Red Racer is possessed of remarkable powers of 

 locomotion, far exceeding in this respect any others of our 

 snakes. And yet to the onlooker this rapidity of movement 

 is accomplished with very little apparent effort. There is a 

 very inconspicuous undulatory bending of the bodyj none 

 of the violent squirming exhibited by a garter snake or king 

 snake. One catches sight of a Red Racer generally after it 

 is in motion. Perhaps it is seen gliding quickly across an 

 open piece of ground between bushes. If one catches 

 glimpses of portions of the snake's body between the plant 

 stems, it is only to see them rapidly diminish in diameter 

 until they disappear entirely. The impression is given all 

 along the line that the snake is growing quickly smaller, 

 like some stereopticon efltect. This illusion leaves one with 

 a sense of bewilderment often lasting long enough to result 

 in all trace of the snake being lost. Sometimes the racer will 



