88 THE AMERICAN MIDLAND NATURALIST 



crawl beneath various objects or dashed for the water where they swam either 

 at the surface, or near the bottom in search of a loose rock under which to 

 hide. Individuals were not often encountered on the sand and stony beaches, 

 but they appeared to inhabit abandoned docks, and even those in use, almost 

 as frequently as they did the rocky areas. 



Specimens almost invariably struck and bit viciously when they were 

 caught and the foul smelling fluid from the musk glands was copiously dis- 

 charged. 



Since it was necessary to depend upon the steamboats for transportation 

 to and from the islands it was not possible to collect upon them except during 

 the summer months. However, specimens were obtained from the last of 

 May to the first of October, inclusive. Of other snakes, only the common 

 garter snake was found with these water snakes in the field. 



The food of the island water snake must consist largely of the dead and 

 dying fish which are washed ashore. Twice specimens were seen eating dead 

 fish in the field and several times fish were disgorged which appeared to have 

 been dried by the sun before being engulfed. That the snakes render a use- 

 ful service as scavengers in helping to clean up the large numbers of dead fish 

 which litter the shores is obvious. Frogs were found to be rare along the 

 shores of the islands, possibly as a result of the great abundance of the snakes. 

 However, captive specimens did not touch frogs, which lived in cages with 

 them for months at a time, although they ate fish with alacrity. Several times 

 in the excitement of feeding, a frog was seized, but the snake almost immedi- 

 ately rejected it. From these very fragmentary observations it might be sug- 

 gested that the island water snakes have lost some of the tolerance for the skin 

 gland secretion of frogs which mainland water snakes appear to have. 



The island water snake produces its young alive. A large female collected 

 on Kelley's Island September 5, 1930, gave birth to 19 young which averaged 

 8% inches in length. A female collected at Put-in-Bay, June 1, 1935, was 

 bred in captivity February 22, 1936. On May 20, 1936, it gave birth to 10 

 young which varied in length from 8I/4 to 9% inches. The female measured 

 37i/g inches. 



Storeria dekayi (Holbrook) 

 Dekay's Snake 



Description. — A small snake attaining a length of somewhat more than a 

 foot. Largest adult Ohio specimen ( ? ), I61/2 inches in length; smallest 

 newly born juvenile, 3% inches. Head small and somewhat distinct from 

 neck; eye medium. Head plates normal. No loreal; two nasals, the nostril 

 in the prenasal. Body slender in juveniles to medium stout in adults. Tail 

 tapering gradually to a point. 



Dorsal scale rows 17 in every specimen examined; the scales keeled. 

 Labials 7-7, very rarely 6 or 8. Oculars usually 1-2, less often 1-3 and rarely 

 1-1. One anterior temporal; usually 2, less often 1 or 3 posterior temporals. 

 Ventrals in males 120 to 129, average 123.8; in females 124 to 134, average 



