36 NEW-YORK FAUNA. 



The specimen which furnished the preceding description was forty inches long. I have 

 never myself seen one of the greatest size mentioned above, but it was stated to me by a 

 person upon whose scrupulous accuracy I place implicit reliance. 



The Black Snake is a bold, active, wild and untameable animal. It climbs trees with 

 great ease, by coiling itself round the trunk in a spiral manner, in search of eggs and young 

 birds. Although perfectly free from any venomous qualities, they will, on some occasions, 

 make considerable resistance, and even pursue an enemy who retreats before them. In various 

 parts of the State, they have the popular names of Racer, Pilot and Black Snake. They 

 feed on frogs, toads, and tlie smaller quadrupeds and birds. The lovers of the marvellous 

 have attributed to this and many other species the power of fascination. This wonderful 

 power, as far as I have heard, seems to be confined exclusively to birds. All the phenomena 

 witnessed on such occasions may be readily solved by the terror occasioned by the snake's 

 appearance near their young, and by the well known artifices resorted to by many birds to 

 mislead an enemy. Many years since, I examined, in the collection of Dr. Mitchill, a large 

 snake which had been sent from Massachusetts, and had been described, I know not upon 

 what authority, as the young of the Sea Serpent. Its vertebraj were diseased nearly through- 

 out the whole extent of the column ; but as it clearly belonged to this species, the name of 

 Scoliophis atlanticus must be expunged from the systems. 



The Black Snake extends from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. According to Stedman, it 

 is found in Surinam. It is numerous over the Western States to the Rocky Mountains. Dr. 

 Kirtland observes, that in Ohio, it is evidently on the increase as the State becomes cleared 

 and cultivated. 



THE PILOT BLACK-SNAKE. 



Coluber alleghaniensis. 

 PLATE Xn. FIG. 26. 

 Coluber alleghaniensis. HoLBROOK, N. Am. Herpetology, Vol. 1, p.lU, pi. 20. 



Characteristics. Black. Scales carinate. Length 5-6 feet. 



Description. Head long and large ; vertical plate pentangular, short and broad ; temporal 

 variable, consisting sometimes of two or three narrow plates, or their place chiefly occupied 

 by the last labial plates very much enlarged. Posterior orbital plates two in number ; the 

 anterior orbital single and very large, the local small and trapezoidal. Nostrils lateral. Eyes 

 rather large ; pupil black ; iris brown. Neck small ; the body much elongated, fusiform, or 

 tapering at each extremity. Scales oblong, oval, and bipunctate at the apex ; those on the 

 back have a distinct carina ; the four or five inferior rows on each side smooth ; broader on the 

 tail, and hexagonal. Tail short, tapering. 



Color. Head black above ; marginal plates silvery white, edged with black ; throat silvery 

 ■ white. Body above, intense pohshed black ; in certain lights an intense brown may be per- 

 ceived. Many of the scales have marginal dashes of white, which are only evident when the 



