274. REPTILES OF THE WORLD 



above, the pattern seems to consist of broad scarlet rings, 

 separated by yellow rings that are bordered on each side 

 with black. On the lower part of the sides these colors 

 abruptly give way to the immaculate white of the ab- 

 domen. The novice is apt to mistake the species for 

 a poisonous snake of the southeastern United States — 

 the Coral Snake, Elaps fulvius. The latter reptile has 

 much the same coloration, but the arrangement of the 

 hues is different, thus: — The poisonous snake has the 

 black rings wider than the yellow and narrowly bordered 

 on each side tvith the latter hue. Several harmless 

 snakes, brilliantly ringed like the Elaps, may be readily 

 separated by the differences in pattern described. 



The Scarlet Snake is a constrictor, feeding upon liz- 

 ards, small snakes and very young mice. It is oviparous, 

 like most of the smooth-scaled American snakes. One 

 in the writer's collection deposited eight eggs and re- 

 mained coiled about them for several weeks, when they 

 were nearly readj^ to hatch. Then she performed the 

 most eccentric of deeds. Though food had been con- 

 stantly offered her, it was discovered she had eaten her 

 entire brood of eggs. 



During a collecting trip a queer observation was made. 

 A heavy rain had fallen the night before, enticing the 

 burrowing snakes from their hiding places. Evidently 

 the Scarlet Snakes had been conspicuous objects during 

 the early morning. On the ends of dead twigs and 

 stems, right and left, were the weird souvenirs of the 

 shrikes, or butcher birds, consisting of partially-eaten 

 bodies of snakes. The reptiles were securely fastened 

 by forcing the tip of the twig into the body cavity like 

 a finger into a glove. The shrike is a carnivorous bird, 

 notorious in having ej^es too big for its stomach; its 

 half -eaten prey is thus jauntily deserted. The number 



