326 ILLINOIS ACADEMY OF SCIENCE 
Storeria occipitomaculata (Storer), Red-bellied Snake. Two 
have been found in a piece of upland woods near Charleston. 
It is generally distributed in Illinois, according to Garman 
(°92). 
Heterodon platyrhinus Lat., Hog-nosed Snake. One of the 
more common snakes of the region. It is very generally dis- 
tributed at least in the wooded regions about Charleston, and a 
number have been found in the city. Locally, it is known as 
“Spreading Adder” and is commonly and erronously con- 
sidered poisonous. It may be indirectly injurious to man 
through destroying toads, which are thought to be its chief 
food. 
Elaphe obsoletus (Say), Pilot Snake. This appears to be 
one of the most common snakes in the region. More have 
been found to the writer’s knowledge about wooded bottom 
lands along the Embarrass River than elsewhere about Charles- 
ton. All have been large, four to five feet in length. They 
frequently reside among tree branches, where they are very 
inconspicuous and probably do much damage to birds. The 
writer knows of one of them killing four young robins, three 
of which it swallowed. These were the contents of a nest some 
fifteen feet up in a tree in a farm yard near Charleston. Robert 
Ridgway (714), writing of the Pilot Black Snake in Southern 
Illinois, says: “It is without question an inveterate enemy of 
bird-life, swallowing old, young, and eggs alike.” A detailed 
study of the food of this reptile would undoubtedly yield im- 
portant results. 
Natrix stpedon (Linn), Watersnake. Common in spring 
along larger streams where they are most often seen about 
places where fish congregate. They undoubtedly destroy many 
fish, One was seen to capture a Common Sucker, Catastomus 
commersontt. The fish was 9 in. long and the snake 4 ft... It 
required a violent struggle to land the fish. When to shore the 
snake began immediately to swallow its prey. This was about 
ten o'clock at night, which makes it evident that Watersnakes 
hunt to some extent at least, at night as well as by day. 
It is possible that the above notes refer to more than one 
species of Natrix, but it is very evident that sipedon is the com- 
mon species in the region. 
