Hurter — Herpetology of Missouri. 193 



Since the red has definite margins and contrasts strongly with the 

 black, the belly has a checkered appearance. The head above is of 

 the same color as the back. Upper and lower labials with black dots. 

 The chin shields have also each a black dot. 



Size. — Total length 950 mm.; tail 158 mm. Specimens sometimes 

 reach a length of 1400 mm. 



Habitat. — The Horn Snake is distributed from South 

 Carolina to Louisiana, and up the Mississippi Valley to 

 Arkansas and the southern part of Missouri, Illinois, and 

 Indiana. Missouri localities : — Butler County. Dr. T. 

 Kingsolving reports it from Hornersville, Pemiscot 

 County. 



Habits. — My son found two of these snakes — an adult 

 and a young one — under a log near the water's edge, at 

 Grinnell's Lake, near Poplar Bluff, Butler Co., Mo., April 

 24, 1898. At the same place he found some more a few 

 years later on April 19th. This is one of the snakes of 

 which such terrible stories are told, giving rise to many 

 popular names, as in this case Hoop Snake, Sting Snake, 

 Horn Snake. I have never yet seen any snake take its own 

 tail in its mouth and roll away like a hoop. This story 

 must have originated in the mind of a very excitable per- 

 son, probably one that was "seeing snakes." The snake 

 has a very short sharp point on the end of its tail, from 

 which fact it received its name Sting or Horn Snake. The 

 story goes that a sting from this snake means sure death 

 to a person, and death to a tree should it strike with its 

 tail. I have handled this snake many a time. On closing 

 my hand it would make a boring motion with its tail but 

 never succeeded in breaking even the skin. 



Genus caephophis. 



Maxillary teeth smooth, subequal. Rostral normal. Internasals 

 present or absent. Nasal one. Loral large, reaching to the orbit. 

 One postorbital. Scales smooth and glossy, without pits, in 13 rows. 

 Anal divided. Small snakes, with little heads and short tails, termin- 

 ating in a single acute nail. 



