Elaphe rufodorsata, Stejneger, Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., 58:310, figs. 269-271, July 22, 1907.
Specimens examined (27).—7 mi. NW Changhowan-ni, 1 (KU); 3 mi. NW Chip´o-ri, 3 (KU); 7 mi. W Ch´ungju, 2 (KU), 1 (UMMZ); 3 mi. S Kumhwa, 2 (KU); 1 mi. NW Oho-ri, 1 (KU); 4 mi. E Seoul, 1 (KU); 5 mi. E Seoul, 2 (KU); 5 mi. ESE Seoul, 2 (KU); 6 mi. E Seoul, 3 (KU), 2 (UMMZ); 7 mi. ESE Seoul, 5 (KU); 4 mi. N Uijongbu, 1 (KU); 5 mi. NE Uijongbu, 1 (UMMZ).
Remarks.—E. rufodorsata was commonly observed and collected on barren hillsides, on country roads, in rice fields, and along drain
age ditches and small streams. One was found sunning outstretched on a road. Two individuals were trapped in cement-walled pits at the Seoul City Water Works. On April 5, five snakes of this species with one Rhabdophis tigrina and one Agkistrodon halys, all partly caked with earth, were found sunning in a shallow depression on the side of a Korean burial mound, which was presumably a hibernaculum. Aside from one juvenile, four of the E. rufodorsata were of approximately the same size, having bodies ranging in length from 385 to 455.
Copulation was observed on April 25 (male, KU 38811, length of body, 400, and female, KU 38812, length of body, 565), and on May 4 (female, KU 38816, length of body, 620). Eggs doubtless hatch at various times in summer. One of five snakes obtained on April 5 ([see above]) measured 310 (250 + 60) in total length. Another juvenile (KU 38828), obtained on October 18, was 478 (385 + 93) long, and our smallest specimen of this species (KU 38821), captured on June 26, measured 275 (230 + 45).
The stomachs of two snakes each contained a Rana nigromaculata; another individual had eaten a Hyla arborea, and a fourth specimen had eaten a small fish. One specimen was parasitized by a cestode.
The largest female from our series (KU 38816) measured 740 (620 + 120), and the largest male (KU 38813), 595 (475 + 120). Respective ventral and subcaudal counts of 13 males averaged 170.5 (167-174) and 60.0 (56-63), ventrals of 12 females averaged 178.3 (169-182), and subcaudals of 11 averaged 51.0 (46-56).
Elaphe schrencki anomala (Boulenger)
Coluber anomalus Boulenger, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. 8, 17:243, March, 1916 (type locality, Chihfeng, China).
Elaphe schrencki anomala, Pope, The reptiles of China, p. 266, fig. 57, May 11, 1935.