242 THE AMERICAN MIDLAND NATURALIST 



Cuyahoga County: Brecksville (CMNH 16). Defiance County: 1 mi. SW of 

 Defiance (OSM 702, 744, 837, 838.1-5). Geauga County: Troy Twp. (OSM 

 701). Pike County: Pike State Forest (WED 135, 356). Scioto County: Near 

 Friendship (SL 465); Nile Twp. (OSM 676); Roosevelt Game Preserve (OSM 

 661); Turkey Creek, Nile Twp. (OSM 648); Union Twp. (OSM 710). 



I have checked the specimen that Trapido (op. cit., p. 32) listed from 

 Columbus (ANSP 6463). It is obvious from the catalogue entry that there 

 has been an error of some sort, and, in addition, the snake possesses certain 

 characteristics which indicate that it may be an intergrade between occipito- 

 maculata and obscura. No state name follows the "Columbus" (in the Acad- 

 emy catalogue), and possibly the snake may have come from Columbus, 

 Georaia. In any event it should be removed from the Ohio list. The occipi- 

 tcmaculata (USNM 10089) reported by Trapido (loc. cit.) from Hughes, 

 Butler County, also may net be from Ohio; this specimen is one of a series of 

 serpents that probably were collected farther west. (See discussion under 

 Diadophis punctatus arnyi on page 7.) 



Among the new records, the snakes from near Defiance are of the greatest 

 interest. All other Ohio localities for occipltomaculata (that are backed by 

 specimens and unquestionable data) are concentrated in the northeastern and 

 south central portions of the state, and it is surprising, to say the least, to 

 discover this species in the lak* plains .and well within the area formerly occu- 

 pied by the ''Great Black Swamp." Triplehorn (1948) has reported upon the 

 finding of two specimens a mile southwest of the city of Defiance. One was 

 obtained on July 7, 1946, "in open oak-hickory woodland at the top of a dry 

 ravine," and the other was taken near-by on July 16, 1947, as it crawhd "across 

 a path in a large clump of hazelnut bushes." More recently (August 5, 

 1948), Triplehorn obtamed a third snake of this species in the same locality. 

 It gave birth to five young on August 23, 1948; three were virtually plain 

 black above and each had a relatively broad area of red down its belly; th? 

 other two juveniles were albinos. 



It is possible, of course, that the Defiance County colony of ocdpitomacu- 

 lata has become established through human agency. The locality is at a Boy 

 Scout camp, and many boys keep snakes as pets, some of which escape or are 

 liberated in improper places. On the other hand, the red-bellied snake is 

 widespread in Michigan and there are records from the southern part of that 

 state. It is conceivable that this colony may be a relict outpost of the Michi- 

 gan population. Physiographically, extreme northwestern Ohio is similar to 

 southeastern Michigan. A belt of small lakes and tamarack bogs extends 

 southward into Indiana and into the comer of Ohio as far as Ladd Lake in 

 northern Defiance County. A number of important tributaries of the Maumee 

 River, such as the Tiffin River, have their headwaters in Michigan, and they 

 may have provided migration routes for this species. In support of this sup- 

 position is also the fact that specimens from Defiance County and from south- 

 eastern Michigan exhibit similarities in certain scale counts that are slightly 

 at variance with counts made on red-bellied snakes from eastern and southern 

 Ohio. 



The scutellation is of interest in two respects. First, there is only a single 



