380 



LOWER VERTEBRATES. 



from reference to the arrangement of wMch the several North American species 

 can be determined. SJlaps fidvus, the harlequin-snake, or 'viper,' has the first broad 

 ring behind the occiput black, and all subsequent rings separate, and not united into 

 gi-oups. The head and tail are ringed with black and yellow, while the body combines 

 with these colors a most deep and intense red, the yellow serving as a narrow border 

 for the black. Its habitat is the southern United States and Mexico, though the 

 species is continued still further south by varieties, of which there have several been 

 recognized. 



The harlequin-snake is often found below ground, and especially in sweet-potato 



Fig. 220. — Elaps corallina, coral-snake. 



fields, where they are frequently dug up by the laborers. From their ordinary mild 

 disposition they are considered by most people as perfectly harmless, a strange fact 

 when we consider the habits of its more southern congener, .E*. lemniscatus, a most 

 dreaded reptile of Brazil. £J. euryxanthus, the Sonora harlequin, has the first hood- 

 ring behind the head of a deep red color ; it inhabits the Sonoran region, or that 

 portion of south-westei-n United States and northern Mexico which includes a part of 

 Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona, and Sonora in Mexico. E. laticollaris is found in the 

 neighborhood of Pueblo, Mexico, and is characterized by having the black rings 

 arranged in groups of threes, and the occipital band yellow. E. elegans and decoratus 

 also inhabit Mexico ; the first has the occipital band black, while decoratus has it red. 



