2o6 VERTEBRATE ANIMALS OF THE UNITED STATES 



plate single; scales in iq rows and imperfectly keeled; upper labials 6: 

 2 species. 



P. hroumi Stej. Length 325 mm.; tail 42 mm.; color whitish, with 

 15 brown blotches on the back; belly white; scales keeled on the hinder 

 two-thirds of the body and very faintly keeled on the forward third: 

 southern Arizona. 



10. Coluber L. (Zamenis Wagler). Blacksnakes; racers. Large, 

 non-venomous snakes with head distinct from the neck; scales smooth, 

 in 15 or 17 rows; upper labials 7 or 8: many species in the New and Old 

 Worlds, 4 in the United States; active snakes which live on the ground 

 but can also climb bushes and trees, feeding on small mammals, reptiles 

 and frogs; they do not constrict their prey but may kill it by pressing 

 it against the ground. 



Key to the Species of Coluber 

 ai Body never striped. 



bi Color black, bluish or green C. constrictor. 



1)2 Color brown, at least posteriorly C. flagellum. 



a2 Body striped. 



bi A yellow stripe on each side C. lateralis. 



bo Four or five stripes on each side C. tceniatiis. 



C. constrictor L. Blacksnake; blue racer; hoop snake (Fig. 115). 

 Body slender; length 1,700 mm.; tail 449 mm.; greatest length 2,200 

 mm.; color slaty or blue-black above, greenish black to yellow beneath; 

 chin and throat white ; ventrals about 180; young animals (500 mm. long) 

 gray in color with dorsal transverse bars and lateral spots: entire country. 



Subspecies of C. constrictor 



C. c. constrictor L. Belly black: eastern forested States; common. 



C. c. flaviventris Say. Belly yellow: in the plains and prairie States, 

 north and west of the Ohio and Mississippi to the Rockies; common. 



C. c. mormon (Baird and Girard). Size small; color green: west of 

 the Rockies. 



C. flagellum Shaw. Whip snake. Body very slender, 2.000 mm. 

 long; tail 500 mm.; color yellowish brown to dark brown, being darker 

 anteriorly; abdomen white or yellow, more or less blotched with brown 

 anteriorly; ventrals about 190; young animals with dorsal blotches: 

 southern States from Virginia to California; common. 



Subspecies of C. flagellum 



C. f. flagelltwi Shaw. Body black anteriorly: North Carolina to 

 Oklahoma and Texas. 



