182 REPTILES. 



elongated, on a small neck; reddish gray, salmon red 

 beneath; scales 17; G.. 125 to 130; L. 10. Va. to Texas. 



17. VIRGINIA, Baird and Girard. BROWN SNAKES. 



1. V. Valerias, B. & G. VALERIA BLANEY'S SNAKE. 

 Head elliptical; body slender; brownish with minute 

 black dots, often in two rows; yellowish beneath; scales 

 15; G. 120 to 130; L. 12. Md. to Ills, and S. 



2. V. elegans, Kenn. KENNICOTT'S BROWN SNAKE. 

 Scales much narrower; uniform olivaceous above; yel- 

 lowish beneath; scales 17. S. Ills, to Ark. 



18. CARPHOPHIOPS, Gervais. WORM SNAKES. 

 = Celuta, B. & G, 



1. C. amcenus, (Say) Cope. GROUND SNAKE. Glossy 

 chestnut brown; belly salmon -red; head very small; 

 vertical plate broad; nasal plate large, pierced by the 

 nostril; scales 13; G. 120 to 130; L. 12. Mass, to Ills, 

 and S. 



2. C. helence, (Kenn.) Cope, HELEN TENNISON'S 

 SNAKE. Lustrous chestnut -brown, flesh color beneath; 

 snout short and narrow; a single pair of frontal plates; 

 scales 13. S. Ills, to Miss. 



3. C. verm is, (Kenn.) Cope. WORM SNAKE. Purplish- 

 black, two pairs of frontals, as in C. amcenus; belly 

 flesh color, color extending on sides; scales 13; larger 

 than the others. Missouri to Kansas. 



FAMILY LXXV. (b.) ELAPID^E. 



(The Harlequin Snakes.} 



Venomous snakes, provided with two or more perman- 

 ently erect, grooved fangs in the upper jaw, and usually 

 a series of smaller teeth behind them; scales not carin- 

 ated; head usually quadrangular, with flat crown and 



