REPTILES. 119 



come out to feed. They have not been observed to feed during the 

 first three days, but after this they will come out freely to gorge 

 themselves on fish, returning again beneath the stones when satis- 

 fied. One of these young snakes was kept for three months, in 

 which time it attained to the respectable length of 150 mm." 



An additional observation on the food-habits was made in 1908, 

 when several leeches were taken from the stomach of a specimen 

 taken under a stone on the shore of Stony Island, Huron County 

 (Ruthven, 1911a, 268). In nature the form probably subsists 

 largely on such weak food. 



Range: Thamnophis hiitlerii is rather common in southern Michi- 

 gan as far north as the tier of counties represented by Eaton, Oak- 

 land and Ingham. A few specimens taken by the State Biological 

 Surve} on the south side of Saginaw Bay (Rush Lake and Stony 

 Island, Huron County) in 1908 represent the most northern record, 

 and they were apparently rare in that region (Ruthven 1909a, 116; 

 1911a, 268). It has been reported from Olivet, Eaton County (Clark, 

 1903a, 83-88), Brighton, Livingston County, Washtenaw County, 

 Eaton County (Ruthven, 1904), Pontiac, Oakland County (Ruth- 

 ven, 1908, 92), and Ann Arbor and Chelsea, Washtenaw County 

 (Clark, 1905, 109). 



THAMNOPHIS SIKTALIS (Linnaeus).* 



GARTER SNAKE. 

 (PI. XII.) 



Coluber. sirtcdis, Sager, 1839, 302. 



Thamnophis sirtaUs, Clark, 1905, 109 ; 1902, 194. Kirsch, 1895, 333. 



Ruthven, 1909, 332-333; 1908, 176-186; 1911, 115; 1911a, 268. 



Hankinson, 1908, 236. Thompson, 1911, 106. 

 Eutaenia sirtalis sirtalis, Xotestein, 1905, 115. Ruthven, 1904a. 



189-191. Cope, 1900, 1069-1074. 

 TJiamnophis sirtalis sirtalis, Ruthven, 1906, 31, 34, 36, 49, 50, 111. 



Sperry, 1903, 175-179. 

 Eutaenia sirtalis ordinatus, Notestein, 1905, 115. 

 Eutaenia sirtalis parietalis, Notestein, 1905, 115. Smith, 1879, 6. 

 Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis, Ruthven, 1906, 49, 50, 53, 111-112. 



Clark, 1902, 194. Sperry, 1903, 175-179. 



♦Although recorded from the state the western subspecies T. s. parietalis does not occur 

 within our limits. Nevertheless some Isle Royale specimens have tne interspaces between 

 lateral spots generally suffused with red, showing a strong tendency toward the western variety 

 (Cf. Ruthven, 1906, 111-112.) 



