74 FAMILIAR LIFE IN FIELD AND FOREST. 



trees with ease, and has a special penchant for birds 

 and their eggs. He has no mean power of constric- 

 tion also, and wins in a fight with the rattlesnake. 

 Elliot Coues relates an instance in which he witnessed 

 one of the frequent combats between the black snake 

 and the rattlesnake, when the former, in less time than 

 it takes to tell it, snapped the latter asunder by wind- 

 ing the anterior and posterior parts of his body around 

 the neck and tail of the rattlesnake and suddenly pull- 

 ing himself taut. The food of this snake is mainly 

 rats, mice, frogs, toads, and birds. Not uncommon 

 throughout the country east of the Missouri Eiver. 



The striped, or ribbon snake {EutcBiiia saurita).* 

 Length, twenty-eight inches ; light, bright choco- 

 late above, with three yellow stripes ; greenish-white 

 beneath ; nineteen dorsal rows ; large eyes ; slender 

 and graceful figure, agile ; found on the edge of the 

 woods or near the water. A mild-tempered creature, 

 which, should it happen to bite, pricks one's finger as 

 a pin might. Common throughout the east, and 

 abundant in the Alleghany mountains. 



The western garter, or striped snake {Eidmna 

 radix). Length, twenty inches ; brownish or green- 

 ish-black above, with three narrow yellow stripes, and 

 six series of black spots, sometimes obscure ; pale 



* These striped or garter snakes emit an offensive odor. 



