Hurter — Herpetology of Missouri. 83 



Suborder Ophidia. 



Snakes. 

 Poisonous Snakes. 



1. SiSTRURUS MiLiARius Linn. — Ground rattlesnake. 



It gives me pleasure to bring to notice another pit viper, 

 that has been caught by my friend Mr. Eob. Lotzein Oregon 

 County. He was not aware that he had killed a poisonous 

 snake. On an inquiry he wrote me that he captured it from 

 under some debris of an old shanty on the slope of a hill. 

 This specimen looks more similar to those from Texas than 

 to some from Alabama and Florida that are in my collection. 



Harmless Snakes. 



2. Farancia abacura Holbrook. — The so-called hoop snake 



or horn snake. 



The color of this snake is bluish-black above. On the two 

 outer rows the ground color assumes the shape of vertical 

 bands, from one and a half to two scales broad, leaving an 

 intermediate space from two to three scales wide, which is 

 red in life. Both the red and bluish-black extend on the 

 abdomen, the former being the ground color. The vertical 

 bands of the flanks are confluent on the middle of the 

 abdomen, either directly opposite or alternating. 



My son Henry collected six specimens near Poplar Bluff, 

 Butler County, April 24. The snake lives near the shores of 

 stagnant waters and is generally found beneath dead logs and 

 other objects. 



3. LioPELTis VERNALis DcKay. — The grass snake. 



The scales of this little snake are smooth. It is dark green 

 above, lighter on the flanks and yellowish-white beneath. 



I received the only specimen that I have come across from 

 Dr. A. Schaffraneck of St. Charles. The doctor caught it 

 and two others in his garden. I have never encountered this 

 snake in the last twenty years during which I have paid atten- 

 tion to the collecting of reptiles, and I am of the opinion that 

 the Missouri river stops it from coming farther south in this 



