54 THE AMERICAN MIDLAND NATURALIST 



each other. The food was seized and engulfed without more ado unless there 

 was a struggle, in which case the racer threw a loop of its body over the prey 

 and pressed it firmly against the ground. Racers apparently are not con- 

 strictors. 



The eggs of the black racer are white, sub-elliptical in shape and non- 

 adherent to one another. They are covered with a tough skin which is well 

 sprinkled with small particles about the size and color of salt grains. The 

 eggs are deposited in the ground or in decaying vegetable matter such as logs, 

 stumps or abandoned sawdust piles. Ditmars (1936, 194) states that this 

 snake lays from one to two dozen eggs during June or July. A female slightly 

 less than 5 feet in length deposited 8 ^ggs which he measured and found to be 

 1% by ii/i6 inches. Young snakes, 8% inches in length, hatched from these 

 in 61 to 62 days after being laid. 



Coluber constrictor flaviventris Say 



Blue Racer 



Description. — A large snake which may occasionally reach a length of six 

 feet. Largest adult Ohio specimen (sex undetermined), 71 inches in length; 

 smallest juvenile, 14i/2 inches. Head medium and somewhat distinct from 

 neck. Eye large. Head plates normal. Normally one loreal, but split hori- 

 zontally in two in one case. Nostril large and situated between the two nasals. 

 Body and tail slender, the latter whip-like. 



Dorsal scale rows 17-15; the scales smooth. Upper labials usually 7, 

 occasionally 8; lower labials 9, occasionally 8 and reduced to 7 on one side 

 in a single specimen. Oculars 2-2, the lower preocular very small. Tem- 

 porals 2-2-2, rarely 3 in any row. Ventrals 175 to 184, average 180; sub- 

 caudals 82 to 96, average 87.* Anal plate divided 



Color above, uniform but variable in shade, ranging from light bluish or 

 light greenish blue in some specimens to dark olive or dark bluish black in 

 others. Temporal region somewhat darker; more or less brown on the snout. 

 Color below, uniform bluish white or greenish white to yellowish, becoming 

 white or cream on the throat and chin, which color extends upward to the 

 lower portions of the upper labials. Chin and throat not spotted or blotched. 



Juveniles are similar to those of the black racer (Coluber constrictor con- 

 strictor) in color and pattern. Only four young Ohio specimens are avail- 

 able for examination in which the number of dorsal blotches can be counted, 

 and these are 58, 58, 61 and 63, average 60. In the blue racer the number of 

 dorsal blotches averages higher than in the black racer as is shown by Orten- 

 burger (1928, 175) in his review of the genus. Transformation to the adult 

 coloration takes place at about the same size as in the black racer. 



Specimens examined, 85; specimens preserved, 43; specimens studied, 85. 



* One male each from Maumee, Lucas County and Genoa, Sandusky County have 

 the subcaudals 95 and 96 respectively. These specimens are from well within 

 the geographical range of flaviventris, however, and in every other respect 

 they are identical with this form. Excluding these two specimens, the highest 

 number of subcaudals noted is 89, and the average for the subspecies is 86. 



