143 



A detailed table of the food contents of these serpents is as fol- 

 lows: 



No. of 

 Snakes Eating: Kind of Food Material: 



1 Eai-th worms. 



1 Spiders. 



1 Undet. Insect fragments. 



2 Insect fragments witli salamander remains. 



1 Insect fragments with frog remains. 



2 Undet. Beetles. 

 2 Black Ants. 



1 Red Ants. 



1 Undet. Salamander. 



2 Plethodon cinereus (Salamander). 

 1 Spelerpes belineatus (Salamander). 

 1 Hyla versicolor (Tree Frog). 



Formerly published statements report this serpent as feeding 

 upon the following material: 



Toads (De Kay, in N. Y. Geological Report, and Morse, in Ohio 

 Bulletin), Frogs (De Kay), Insects (De Kay and Morse), Worms 

 (Morse). 



There is no evidence that those or other authors actually ob- 

 served this reptile eating these creatures. The only report of 

 positively observed food that we have found was recorded by Dr. 

 Atkinson who published that he has found tadpoles, beetles and 

 crickets in their stomachs. 



From the study of our tables it can be seen that the chief food 

 of those we have examined is the salamanders, and this is some- 

 thing that has not been mentioned before by anyone in connection 

 with this species. It is also apparent that the insects mentioned 

 above, as well as those observed by others, may have been taken 

 originally with the batrachians which had previously captured them. 



No. 8. Thamnophis sirtalis (L.) Common Garter Snake. Plate XXII. 



Owing to the fact that there are several varieties of this species 

 of snake and these varieties are distinguished more by the varia- 

 tions in color than in any other way, it is variously known as the 

 Striped Snake, Spotted Garter Snake, Blue Spotted Snake, and 

 other common names besides that of the Garter Snake and Com- 

 mon (iarter Snake and Loud Schlong (Pennsylvania German). As 

 it belongs to the same genus as the preceding, the distinguishing 

 generic characters are the same as those there given. However, 

 it differs from No. 7, the Bibbon Snake, in having the lateral or side 

 stripes, when present, on the second and third rows of scales (from 

 below) instead of on the third and fourth, and also in having a 

 heavier or stouter body, the tail about one-fourth the total length. 



