SNAKES. 53 



and the common name of " black snake " is indiscrim- 

 inately applied to them. However, a little practice 

 soon enables one to distinguish them apart. The most 

 common of the four and the only one to which the 

 name rightfully belongs, is Bascanion constrictor (L.), 

 a snake which is a uniform deep black above, paler 

 beneath, and has the scales on the back perfectly 

 smooth and in 17 rows. The young, up to the third 

 moult, are very different in color from the adult, being 

 olive brown with numerous large, 



darker colored spots along the sides. 

 Black Snake or , TT1 

 Blue Racer. When they are about two-thirds 



grown, the hue is of a bluish shade, 

 and they are then commonly known as " blue racers" ; 

 most people believing them to be an entirely different 

 snake. 



More "lies" have been told about this snake than 

 any other one in existence. It " charms birds," " sucks 

 cows," "steals eggs," "drinks the milk in the milk 

 houses," "kills a rattle-snake by pulling it in two," 

 and does fifty other deeds that no snake on earth ever 

 did or ever will do. One thing, however, it can do, 

 and do well, and that is to turn tail and run when 

 approached, seeking a shelter with "that celerity of 

 movement no other creeping creature can obtain." 



The black snake feeds prin- 

 cipally upon rats, mice, crick- 

 ets, grasshoppers and beetles, 

 and may occasionally swallow 

 another snake or a small bird Fig. 17 Head of Black Snake, 

 for dessert. However, the good 

 that they do far outweighs the bad, and yet every 



