94 



Coluber obsoletiis confinis is coniiuon in the southern portion of the 

 'United States. It has the scales in twenty-five, occasionally twenty- 

 seven, rows. The ground color is ash gray, and there are about forty- 

 four elongated dorsal blotches of dark chocolate brown. Below these 

 blotches are two other series of elongated spots of a similar color. The 

 latter spots run together to form on each side, especiallj' arteriorly, a 

 longitudinal stripe. Ventral plates about 240. A specimen of Coluber, 

 fourteen inches long, sent me from Terre Haute by Prof. Blatchley, 

 agrees in almost every respect with Baird and Girard's description of 

 Scotophis confinis. It has, however, two temporal plates, instead of one, 

 as stated by Prof. Cope. It is undoubtedly the same form as two large 

 specimens before me, one from Georgia, the other from Mississippi. 

 The latter belong to Coluber spiloides. When the small specimen is 

 compared with other half-grown and adult specimens of C. obsoletus, they 

 appear to form an unbroken series from the very spotted young up to 

 the adults of uniform black. I conclude that C. spiloides is not more 

 than a variety of C. obsolctus, and C. confinis is probably an individual 

 variation with respect to its temporals. 



Coluber obsoletus obsoletus ranges from southeast New York and the east- 

 ern base of the Alleghany Mountains to the plains, and south to North 

 Carolina and Texas. It probably occurs in all portions of our own 

 State. It has been taken in the following localities : Wheatland 

 {Ridgway) ; Franklin county, where it is common (Hughes and But- 

 ler) ; Monroe county (Ind. Univ. coll.) ; Jackson county fSt. Nor. 

 Sch. coll.); Terre Haute (St. Nor. Sch. coll. and Prof. Blatchley); 

 Irvington (W. P. Hay). Three of the specimens examined, one taken 

 at Irvington, another taken in Jackson county, and a third from Terre 

 Haute, had only twenty-five rows of scales. 



So far as I am aware, this is entirely a forest-inhabiting species. Our 

 indistinctly spotted and almost jet black form is not distinguished by 

 most people from the Black-racer, although it is a very tlifferent snake. 

 The latter is a slenderer snake and has very smooth scales in only sev- 

 enteen rows. 



Coluber obsoletns spends its time hiding about hollow logs and in holes 

 about standing trees. It often ascends trees in search of birds and 

 their young. Mr. Amos W. Butler, of Brookville, says that they are 

 the most destructive to birds of all our snakes. Besides birds, they no 

 doubt prey on mice, rats, rabbits and other small animals. The dispo- 

 fiition of this serpent is gentle, and it makes little resistance when sur- 

 prised and seized by head and tail. It will open its mouth in an at- 

 tempt to bite, but struggles little. Under such circumstances a Kacer 

 would make a lively disturbance. One put into a box with a mouse 

 would strike at the latter whenever it showed too much familiarity, but 



