SNAKES 147 



The Bull Snake and Pine Snake, Coluber melanoleucus, 

 are large, robust snakes, diifering from other members of 

 the genus in the very prominent snouts. The scales along 

 the middle of the body are strongly keeled. They inhabit 

 the dry pine forests of the greater part of North America 

 and Mexico, and appear under two very distinct colour 

 varieties. The typical form of the Eastern States, more 

 generally referred to as the Pine Snake, is milky white 

 above, with a dorsal series of large black blotches, which, 

 on the anterior part of the body, are often confluent ; 

 posteriorly, however, they are always separated from each 

 other by wide interspaces. In the Bull Snake, C. melano- 

 leucus, variety sayi^ the blotches, which are much more 

 numerous, are set more closely together on a reddish or 

 yellowish ground colour. The popular name of this snake 

 is derived from the fact that when excited or annoyed it 

 produces loud bellowing sounds, which, it is said, may be 

 heard at distances of nearly one hundred feet away. The 

 production of these sounds, which have also been compared 

 to distant thunder, is usually explained by the fact that 

 in this snake the glottis is produced into a movable flap, 

 the epiglottis^ which, when the air contained in the lungs 

 is expelled, produces an increased vibration. It may be 

 mentioned, however, that, as previously stated, the Indian 

 Rat Snake, in which the epiglottis is not developed, 

 produces equally loud and similar sounds. Although, 

 according to Ditmars and other authors, these snakes are 

 generally bad-tempered and refuse food in captivity, the 

 numerous specimens kept by the writer were all gently 

 disposed and remarkable for their voracity, three Pine 

 Snakes and one Bull Snake, which share a cage at the 



