MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE. 59 



KOTES ON MICHIGAN REPTILES AND AMPHIBIANS, II. 



ALEXANDER G. RUTHVEN. 



Since the last meeting of this section of the Michigan Academy of 

 Science some noteworthy additional data on the amphibians and 

 reptiles of the state have accnnnilated at the Univei-sitv of Michigan 

 Museum. They are principally results of the biological investigations, 

 in Dickinson County, conducted by the Michigan Geological and Biolog- 

 ical Survey in the summer of 1909. 



Rana scpte)itrio)ialis Baird. Mink Frog. — This frog was found in 

 abundance about the shores of Brown Lake, and occasionally along the 

 west branch of the Sturgeon River in that vicinity. It was quite shy, 

 never found away from the water, and seldom seen out of the water even 

 on logs or mud flats. Nearly all of the indiA'iduals observed were sit- 

 ting in the water with only the top of the head exposed. 



The note at this time (July and August) was low pitched, and, 

 although often sounded but once, was usually repeated from four to 

 six times, and seemed to us, in the rapidity with which it was uttered 

 and the pitch, to resemble quite closely the tap of a woodpecker on a 

 dead tree. 



In life there is considerably more yellow in the coloration of the 

 back and sides than one Avould expect from an examination of alcoholic 

 material. The light colored areas were, on the back C.C.^ 207, on the 

 sides C.C. 202, on the margin of the upijer jaw C.C. 252. The dark 

 colored areas above Avere uniformly black. 



Elaphe viilpiiius (Baird and Girard). Fox Snake. — The Fox Snake 

 was found to be not uncommon in Dickinson Couiitv. The writer secured 

 one specimen at Brown Lake, and observed the remains of another that 

 had recently been killed near the same place. Mr. Albert Terrill, or 

 Norway, informed us that it was not uncommon in that vicinity, and 

 showed us six or eight skins of individuals that he had taken! The 

 species seemed to be closely confined to the pine lands and is now 

 apparently much rarer than formerly in this county, owing to the forest 

 fires that recently swept over this territory .- 



(In-ijscmij.^ iiiair/iiiata hvUii (Gray). — Dickinson County specimens of 

 this genus of turtles prove to be referable to the variety hclVii, thus ex- 

 tending the known range of this form in ^Michigan well to the east. 

 Only two specimens (one of which was captured) were observed at 

 Brown Lake; another was taken at Norway, Avhere it was more com- 

 mon, and there is an immature individual in the Iron Mountain col- 

 lection received from ^Mr. Royden Webster. Iron Mountain. The si^eci- 

 men taken in Brown Lake (July 1) had in the oviducts ten eggs, ap- 

 parently ready to be laid. 



Ann Arbor, Mich., April, 1910. 



iKlincksieck and Valette, Code des? Coulenrs. Tai-is, 190S. 



"In his summary of the known records of the Fox Snake in the state (Eleventh Annual 

 Report Michigan Academy of Science, pp. 116-117). the writer overlooked the foot-note 

 reference to its occurrence "in the vicinity of Sagrinaw Bay" in Miles "A Catalogue of the 

 Mammals. Birds. Reptiles and Molliisks of Michigan" (First Biennial Report (Geological 

 Survey of Michigan, 18(>1). 



