THE SNAKES 311 



But two species of Elaps occur in the United States. 

 Their red, j'ellow and black-ringed coloration causing 

 them to look rather alike. There is also a strong resem- 

 blance to several harmless snakes, iiai'ticularly the follow- 

 ing species: Arizona King Snake, Ophibolus zonatus; 

 Western JNIilk Snake, O. doliatus gentilis; Scarlet King 

 Snake, O. doliatus and the Scarlet Snake, Cemophora 

 coccinea. Careful examination will demonstrate a val- 

 uable character that may be generally employed in dis- 

 tinguishing the venomous from the harmless reptiles. 

 It will be noted in the case of the poisonous snake that 

 the black rings are single and bordered with a pair of 

 yellow rings. With the harmless species the yellow 

 rings are single and bordered with a pair of black rings. 



The species of Coral Snakes found in the United 

 States may be easily separated, as follows : — 



Snout black; a yellow band across the head, followed by a black ring. 

 HARLEauiN Snake; Cohal Snake, Elaps fulvius. 



Habitat: Southeastern United States into Mexico. 

 Snout black ; a yelloM' band across head, followed by a red ring. Sonoeak 

 CoEAL Snake, Elaps eiiryxanthus. 



Habitat: Arizona and northern Mexico. 



The Harlequin Snake or Coral Snake, of the 

 southeastern part of the United States, is a common 

 reptile in South Carolina, Georgia and Florida, w^here 

 it is dug up in sweet potato fields during ploughing. 

 Specimens are found wandering about, after heavj^ rains. 

 The scales are highly-polished and opalescent; the pat- 

 tern consists of regularly-disposed, broad scarlet and 

 black rings, separated by narrow rings of yellow. The 

 snout is black ; a wide orange band crosses the head. It 

 is not unusual to find specimens with the scarlet much 

 obscured by a scattering of black spots ; on the abdomen 

 the coloration is more brilliant. A big example is a yard 

 long and three-quarters of an inch in diameter at the 



