248 REPTILES OF THE WORLD 



Nine species and several varieties of Water Snakes 

 inhabit the United States. A list is given: — 



Longitudinally striped. 



Leather Snake; Queen Snake, T. leberis. U. S. east of Mississippi. 



Graham's Water Snake, T. grahami. Mississippi Valley. 



Two-Lined Water Snake, T. rigidus. Pennsylvania to the Gulf. 



Clark's Water Snake, T. clarkii. Louisiana to Texas. 



Flat-Tailed Water Snake, T. compressicaudus. Florida. 



Traversely banded. 



Banded Water Snake, T. fasciatus. Va. to Fla. and Texas. 



Red-Bellied Water Snake, T. fasciatus, v. erythrograster. S. E. United 

 States. 



Common Water Snake, T. fasciatus, v. sipedon. N. E. United States. 



Blotched Water Snake, T. fasciatus, v. transversus. La.; Texas and 

 Arkansas. 



Diamond-Back Water Snake, T. rhombifer. Mississippi Valley. 



Green Water Snake, T. cyclopium. Gulf States. 



Brown Water Snake, T. taxispilotus. S. E. United States. 



Probably the most familiar of the snakes in the pre- 

 ceding list is the Common Water Snake, Tropidono- 

 tus fasciatus, variety sipedon, a dingy brown, rough- 

 scaled serpent that may be seen sunning on the branches 

 of bushes overhanging ponds and streams, and dropping 

 into the water at the least fright. Except with the young 

 and the smaller specimens, the pattern is not attrac- 

 tive. The brown body hue is crossed with ruddy brown 

 blotches on the forward part of the body — on the latter 

 portion these break into three series of alternating 

 blotches — the point of differentiation from the typical 

 form. The abdomen is prettily marked, being yellow 

 or white with many bright red blotches. Old examples 

 are uniform, dull and lusterless brown ; they have a flat 

 head, a thick body and look very ugly. A very big 

 specimen is four feet long and one and a half inches 

 in diameter at the thickest part of the body. From 

 two and a half to three feet is the usual size. The 

 Water Snake eats fishes, frogs, toads and tadpoles. As 



