THE SNAKES 261 



killed contained either a full-grown rat, several smaller 

 individuals, or an entire brood of young. After many 

 such emphatic demonstrations the farmer was asked if he 

 were at last convinced of the snake's usefulness. His 

 stubborn reply was to the effect that a snake was a snake 

 and as such fit only to be hammered to death with a club. 



Of the several fine Colubers found in the United 

 States, the most widely distributed is the Pilot Black 

 Snake, Coluber obsoletus, a shiny black species, with 

 feebly-keeled scales. It ranges from southern Massa- 

 chusetts to Florida and westward to the Mississippi. In 

 the Northern States it occurs principally in high country 

 and is known as the Mountain Black Snake by the bright 

 country lad who goes to pick huckleberries. The pitchy 

 black of the upper surface resembles the coat of the 

 common black snake or racer (Zamenis), but the Coluber 

 is to be recognized by the keeled scales and glossy, not 

 satiny luster. The name Pilot Black Snake comes from 

 an erroneous idea; it is thought this serpent warns the 

 rattlesnake in time of danger, leading the slower, venom- 

 ous reptile to a safe retreat. The theory has probably 

 arisen from the fact that the Pilot Black Snake fre- 

 quents the same localities as the timber rattlesnake, the 

 two species, in the Northern States, hibernating in the 

 same dens. A large specimen is six feet long — well able 

 to swallow a squirrel or a half -grown rabbit. 



In the Southeastern States is an interesting variety 

 of the present species — the Chicken Snake, C. obsole- 

 tus quadrivittatus. A yellow body-hue with four dark 

 bands extending the entire length of the animal has elic- 

 ited the specific name, meaning four-banded. With this 

 variety we have an admirable example of the transfor- 

 mation of pattern from the young to the adult, existing 

 among several serpents. The young, hatching from 



