1868.] 181 [Allen. 



species ( Tropidonotus Sirtalis) , but including some black snakes, num- 

 bering between forty and fifty. January 29th, 1864, after two weeks 

 of very unseasonably warm weather, a living specimen of this species 

 was found on the surface of the ground, which was then bare, and 

 brought to me the same day alive. It was of course sluggish, and 

 had evidently been thus prematurely enticed abroad by the excessive 

 warmth of the weather. 



I learn from Mr. W. H. Niles, that this species is apparently in- 

 creasing in numbers at Worthington, it being now not at all uncom- 

 mon, thovigh formerly regarded as a rarity. 



14. Elaphis alleghaniensis Holbr. (ScotopJiis alleghaniensis 

 Bd. and Gir; Coluber alleghaniensis Ilolhr.^ Pilot Black Snake. This 

 southern species is apparently not rare along the Connecticut in this 

 State, from Longmeadow to Mount Tom. Mr. C. W. Bennett, who 

 first seems to have detected a black snake here with carinated scales 

 (the common species having smooth, glossy scales), gives it as about 

 one-half as numerous as the common black snake (Bascanio7i constric- 

 tor^ at Mount Tom, where he and others within a few years have killed 

 a considerable number. Mr. C. A. Emery has also found it in the 

 vicinity of Springfield. Several specimens collected by the above- 

 named gentlemen are in the Springfield Museum of Natural History. 

 Mr. Bennett remembers to have seen it here as long ago as some 

 twelve years since. He thinks it chiefly affects damp places in the 

 summer, but crawls up on the hills in autumn. The specimens thus 

 far captured have all been of very large size, ranging in length 

 from about seven feet to seven feet and nine inches. Respecting its 

 geographical distribution. Dr. Holbrook states that he had received it 

 from the Highlands of the Hudson, from the summit of the Blue 

 Ridge in Virginia, and many specimens from the mountains of the 

 Carolinas, and Baird and Girard mention a single specimen from 

 Carlisle, Pa. We believe this is the first time the species has been 

 chronicled from New England. 



We have learned from Prof. A. E. Verrlll that it is also of more or 

 less frequent occurrence at New Haven, Ct. Mr. Linsley (1. c, p. 

 42) has also reported it from the same vicinity. 



A specimen of ^'■Scotophis vulpinus" has been entei'cd on the Cat- 

 alogue of the Museum of Comparative Zoology (No. 796), as having 

 been received from " Wenham, Mass," from Mr. James Bartlett, in 

 1861. If it is this species, it is its first, and so far as I can learn, only 

 occurrence in New England. Mr. F. W. Putnam informs me that 



