62 BULLETIN 17 5, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



tunnel it remained entirely hidden from view until oviposition was accomplished, 

 when the entrance was closed and the locality deserted. When excavated, they 

 were found to occupy an enlargement of the tunnel six to eight inches below the 

 surface, where they were massed together in a single coherent cluster— the shells 

 being very closely cemented together wherever they came in contact. Ten eggs 

 in all were found. . . . 



A description of the eggs and some information concerning the em- 

 bryological development of the form follow. Conant and Bailey 

 (1936, p. 6) report that "a female 1,372 mm. in length . . , laid nine 

 eggs on July 9, 1934." Four of these were abnormal, but "the last 

 five eggs . . . were white with soft leathery shells" and averaged 

 56.0 mm. by 31.3 mm. in size. 



In the account of the habits of melanoleucus given hj Ditmars 

 (1907, p. 318) the form is described as bad-tempered and sullen m 

 captivity. "Small rabbits, squirrels, and other rodents" and "birds 

 and eggs" are listed as food. The method of swallowing eggs is 

 given as follows: 



The egg is engulfed entire — without breaking the shell — and swallowed for a 

 distance of about eight or ten inches down the neck, when that portion of the 

 reptile is pressed firmly against the ground, the muscles are called violently 

 into play and exert themselves in such a manner that strong pressure is brought 

 against the egg from anterior and posterior directions. Subjected to this com- 

 pression the shell is broken and the fragments are swallowed along with the 

 contents of the egg, all parts of which are digested. ... A Pine Snake of five 

 feet in length can easily swallow the eggs of a hen, and will consume from four 

 to six at a meal. 



Engelhardt (1916, p. 7) records an egg, apparently that of a ruffed 

 grouse, "intact and in perfect preservation," removed from the 

 intestinal tract of one of these snakes, which indicates that eggs 

 engulfed as food, small ones, at least, are not always crushed in 

 the gullet in this manner. The number of eggs, according to Dit- 

 mars, varies "from 15 to 2 dozen in number." 



Of the habitat of melanoleucus, Dunn (1917, p. 101) says: "A dead 

 specimen about 3' 6" long was found on August 19, on the road 

 across the 'Spur' between Nimrod Hall and Milboro Springs, in 

 Bath County, Va. This locality is in the Alleghany Mountains and 

 the altitude is about 1,000 feet. The road at this point was bordered 

 on each side by a rather steep slope covered with laurel and rhodo- 

 dendron." 



Affinities. — P. m. melanoleucus is closely aUied to the other sub- 

 species of melanoleucus. Its probable derivation from ruthveni is 

 indicated by the color pattern and scale characters. The pattern 

 of melanoleucus may be derived easily from that of ruthveni by an 

 intensification of color in the spots from chocolate-brown to black, 

 a diminution in the ground color from pale brown to a yellowish 

 white, and a fusion of the anterior spots in pairs, thus decreasing the 



