Hurter — Herpetolui/y of Missouri. 179 



Habits.— T>Y. S. E. Meek of the Field Museum of Nat- 

 ural History reports this snake from Greenway, Clay Co., 

 Arkansas. Clay County is just west of Dunklin County, 

 Mo., and as the environments are the same, I do not doubt 

 that eventually the Spotted Snake will be found in Mis- 

 souri. 



65. Elaphe obsoletus Say. Black Snake. Pilot Snake. 

 Mountain Black Snake. Rat Snake. 



Coluber obsoletus. Coluber obsoletus obsoletus, Scotophis obsoletus. 

 Coluber alleghaniensis. Scotophis alleglianiensis, Elaphis holbrookii, 

 Elaphis alleghaniensis. Georgia ohsoleta, Spilotes obsoletus, Elaphis 

 obsoletus. 



Description. — Rostral broader than deep, just visible from above. In^ 

 ternasals broader than long, much shorter than the prefrontals. Frontal 

 a little longer than wide, as long or a little shorter than its distance 

 from the rostral, shorter than the parietals. Nasals two, nostril in 

 the suture between. Loral longer than deep. One pre- and two post- 

 oculars. Temporals 2-3. Eight upper labials, seventh the largest, 

 fourth and fifth entering the eye. Lower labials eleven or twelve, 

 sixth or seventh the largest. Four or five lower labials in contact with 

 the anterior chin shields, which are as long as the posterior. Dorsal 

 rows of scales 25 or 27, sixteen keeled. Ventrals 224-246. Anal divided. 

 Subcaudals 75-90. 



Color. — The color above black or very dark brown, the dorsal spots 

 indistinctly outlined, but enough to make them out. In young and 

 newly shed specimens they are well marked. In some individuals the 

 skin on the side is more or less red. The belly is usually slaty black 

 behind, yellow anteriorly, more or less maculated with black blotches. 

 Throat and chin white. Labials the same, margined with black. 



Size.— Total length 1850 mm.; tail 320 mm. 



Habitat. — Massachusetts to Kansas and Nebraska, 

 southwest to Texas. Rare in Florida. In Missouri the 

 Black Snake is found everywhere, but especially in wood- 

 ed districts. 



Habits. — The Black Snake reaches a greater size than 

 any other of our snakes. It hides in hollow logs and holes 

 of trees. July 24, 1898, while out hunting, I discovered 

 one on a heavy limb of a large sycamore tree at least 

 sixty feet from the ground. I shot it down and found it 



