110 



fear the habitations of meu, and is, hence, not infrequently called the 

 House-snake. It also frequents dairies where milk is kept, and this, 

 from a mistaken notion of its robbing the dairy-women, has given rise to 

 another name, the Milk-snake. A number of snakes have acquired a 

 reputation of drinking milk, and it would be interesting to have some 

 one settle the question whether or not any of our snakes will really 

 do so. This snake appears early in the spring. I have taken it March 

 20, and have seen a dead one along the road still earlier. 



According to Dr. Goode's investigations this snake is oviparous and 

 guards its nest. Moreover, when danger threatens her young, the 

 mother finds an asylum for them down her capacious throat. (See -54, 

 '73, 182.) I have taken the eggs of this species in Illinois. They 

 were buried in a pile of manure and more or less glued together. 

 The egg is 2 inches long and a little less than 1^- inches short diameter. 

 The covering is parchment-like. It contained a young snake 10 inches 

 long. 



Dr. C. Hart Merriam (78, '78, 69) relates an instance of an individ- 

 ual of this species having swallowed a specimen of a Striped-snake two- 

 thirds its own length. 



Ophibolus getulus, (Linn.). 

 King-snake. 



Coluber getulus, Linmeus, 1766, 6^, ed. xii, i, 382; Coronella gehda, 

 Holbrook, 1842, 5^, iii, 95, pi. 21 ; Ophibolus getulus, Baird and Girard, 

 1853, 6, 85; Garman, 1883, 13, 68, pi. 5, fig. 3. 



Variety sayi. 



Coronella sayi, Holbrook, 1842, 54, 99, pi 22 ; Ophibolus sayi, Baird 

 and Girard, 1853, 6, 84; Ophibolus getulus var. sayi, Cope, 1875, 12, 37; 

 Garman, 1883, 13, 68, pi. 5, fig. 4. 



Ophibolus doliatus var. sayi has a rather elongated and slender body 

 and small head. The tail forms only about an eight of the total length. 

 The vertical plate is triangular. Anteorbital single ; postorbitals two, 

 small. The loral is small. The snout is pointed and projecting. Upper 

 labials 7, the eye over the 3d and 4th. Lower labials 10, the 4th and 

 5th largest. Ventral plates 210 to 225 ; subcaudals 48 to 55. 



The color above is deep brown to jet black, more or fewer of the scales 

 being ornamented each with a small spot of white or yellow. These spots 

 usually largest on the lowest scales. Often they are scattered over the 

 body quite regularly ; at other times there are rows of these spots which 

 form narrow lines across the back at intervals of about 5 or 6 scales. In this 

 case there may be as many as 70 of these cross-lines. The areas between 

 such lines may be without spots or may be spotted. Sometimes the lines 



