FAMILY COLUBERID®. 39 
Abdominal plates,.--.-. 195 — 205. Length, "sss cc a5 eee 36°0. 
Caudal plates, -....-.. 38- 45. Waal ees aoa ree 5:0. 
This species has been, I suspect, strangely confounded with the Trigonocephalus contortrizx, 
the arrangement and distribution of the colors agreeing tolerably well. In its markings, it 
approaches much nearer to the doliatus of the Naturalist’s Miscellany (Vol. 7, p. 254), and 
more closely still to the C. lichtensteinii of Wagler. It is needless, however, to add that it 
is specifically distinct from both. 
This innocent and beautiful snake is common throughout this State. It has been also ob- 
served in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Ohio. In this State, its most usual popular name 
is Milk Snake, although it has various other appellations. It is called Chicken Snake, 
Thunder and Lightning Snake, House Snake, and Chequered Adder. In some parts of 
Westchester it is called the Sand-king ; but for what reason I cannot imagine. In Suffolk 
county, a large snake resembling this has been described to me under the name of Sachem 
Snake. 
It is not unfrequently found in outhouses, and in dairies or cellars where milk is kept, which 
it is said to seek with avidity. It climbs well, and glides rapidly over the smoothest surfaces. 
It is rare to find them exceeding four feet ; the more usual length is about two. 
THE RING SNAKE. 
CoLUBER PUNCTATUS. 
PLATE XIV. FIG. 29. — (STATE COLLECTION.) 
The Small Black and Red Snake. Epwarps, Gleanings, Vol. 7, p. 289, pl. 349. 
Coluber punctatus. Lin. Syst. Nat. 
C. torquatus. Suaw, Gen. Zool. Vol. 3, p. 553. 
La Couleuvre ponctuée. Daun. Hist. des Reptiles, Vol. 7, p. 178. 
Homolosoma punctatus. WAGLER. 
Natrix edwardsti et punctatus. Merrrem, Versuch. p. 131, 136. : 
C. punctatus. Horsroox, N, Am. Herpetology, Vol. 2, p.115, pl. 26. Say, Am. Jour. Vol. 1, p. 261. 
C. punctatus. Haruan, Med. and Phys. Res. p.117, Storer, Mass. Report, p. 225. 
Characteristics. Small. Bluish brown ; beneath, red; often with a triple row of black dots ; 
a white collar around the neck. Length 12 -18 inches. 
Description. Body slender, elongated, with smooth rhomboidal scales. Head small, flattened 
above, with ten plates on the surface. Nose rounded. Labial plates above, seventeen ; be- 
neath, fifteen. Nostrils and eyes large. ail nearly one-fourth of the total length, acute, 
ending ina horny tip. Anal plate often divided. 
Color. Above bluish brown, approaching to black. Head lustrous, black. Across the 
occiput a yellowish white collar round the neck, margined with black ; occasionally the collar 
is not perfect, but in its place two or more whitish blotches. Beneath yellowish white, and 
more frequently deep reddish orange. At the junction of the dark color above with the lighter 
