160 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OF [Mar.^ 



ment, and no doubt its omnivorous appetite is partly due to its 

 speed. It can climb among the bushes, though we usually found it 

 on the ground. The natives think it beneficial and allow it to climb 

 into their corn cribs because it catches the troublesome rats and 

 mice. 



Food. — It is considered harmless, and of its antipathy for rattle- 

 snakes we neither saw nor heard any evidence. It doubtless will 

 attack the poisonous snakes, but not to the extent that its arch- 

 enemy, the king snake, does. Its speed is marvellous, and all the 

 lizards of the swamp prove its prey. This even includes the "race 

 nag" {Cnemidophor'us sexlineatus), which suffers most; at least two 

 of our specimens had the tails of these lizards in their stomachs, 

 indicating that the lizards were swallowed head first. One cannot 

 help wondering how the blacksnake captures these speedy reptiles. 

 Another species which the blacksnake uses for food is the slowest 

 lizard of the islands, the ground lizard {Lygosoma laterale). In some 

 of the specimens we found sand in their stomachs. This species is 

 very fond of frogs and toads, all the dry-land forms being in the 

 list, the toad {Bufo I. lentiginosus) occupying first place. One 

 snake had 4 adult Carolina tree frogs (Hyla carolinensis) and 1 

 pine-wood's tree frog {Hyla femoralis) in its stomach; all being- 

 taken head first. It seems not to scorn insects, beetles being the 

 principal group identified. 



Parasites. — This species is quite badly troubled with internal 

 parasites, five of the thirteen specimens having such in their ali- 

 mentary tracts. The first snake captured — a young one — had mites 

 all along the edges of the gastrostegal plates, a condition subsequently 

 observed in one or two other specimens. 



Breeding. — The black snake is oviparous. One individual taken 

 June 1, 1912, had 14 half-sized eggs; another taken June 8 had 11 

 eggs in about the same condition. On June 21, a specimen was 

 taken with 5 mature eggs. On June 19, Mr. Farley Lee went out 

 to get some smudge wood at 7 P.M., when darkness had just begun. 

 Upon lifting a rotten log he found a female blacksnake which was 

 laying its eggs under the log. It had laid three eggs, and we suc- 

 ceeded in forcing another from the specimen. In the female were 

 five more, making the complement 9 in all. Only two kinds of 

 reptilian eggs exceed these in abundance and ease of discovery, 

 namely, those of the Florida cooter {Chrysemys floridana) and of the 

 spreading adder (Heterodon platyrhinus) . The four eggs above 

 mentioned measured as follows : 



