6o 



THE ATLANTIC SLOPE NATURALIST. 



Zamenis eousti ictor. Black snake, rac- 

 er. Glossy black above, beneath slate 

 color; lower jaw and chin white. Length 

 three to six feet. Destroys vast numbers 

 of birds, squirrels, young rabbits and 

 frogs. 



Coluber obsoletus. Pilot snake. Alle- 

 gheny black snake. Mostly found in 

 mountains. From five to over seven feet 

 in length. Black or lead color above, oft- 

 en marked with a series of quadrangular 

 blotches; some scales edged with white. 

 Beneath greenish white mottled with dark 

 slate blue. 



Pityophis melanoleucus. Pine snake, 

 Bull snake. Ground color white or pale 

 brown; head often spotted with black; a 

 dorsal series of brown blotches margined 

 with black before and behind; beneath 

 dull yellow with dark patches. Length 

 five to eight feet. Pine forests of New 

 Jersey. 



Ophibolus doliatus triangulus. Milk 

 snake, house snake. Ground color light 

 grey, with about forty-five rounded 

 brown blotches on the back, bordered 

 with black. In the young snakes these 

 are red. Beneath white with checker- 

 board spots. Length twenty-five to for- 

 ty-two inches. Devours great numbers 

 of field and meadow mice; does not steal 

 milk from cows, as frequently stated by 

 farmers. 



Ophibolus get ul us getulus. Chain 

 snake, King snake. Black, crossed by 

 about thirty narrow continuous yellowish 

 white lines, which bifurcate on the sides; 

 beneath pale yellow with black blotches. 

 Length four feet and over. Most numer- 

 ous in southern New Jersey. A noted 

 cannibal among snakes — devours vast 

 numbern of garter snakes and other spe- 

 cies which it is strong enough to capture. 

 Natrix fasciata sipedou. Common 

 water snake. Brown wiih narrow trans- 

 verse light bands margined with black; 

 beneath yellowish, with spots of pale 

 brown margined with black. Length two 

 to over three feet. A great destroyer of 

 fishes and frogs. 



Natrix fasciata erythrogaster, Red- 

 bellied water snake. Head long, narrow- 



ing forward; uniform bluish or red-black 

 above; beneath copper red. Western 

 Pennsylvania. 



Natrix leberis. Striped water snake, 

 leather snake. Brown above with three 

 narrow black stripes; beneath yellowish 

 with four black stripes. Length two feet 

 and less. Found under partly submerged 

 stones along creeks and rivers. 



Natrix rigida. Rough water snake. 

 Greenish brown above; two dark brown 

 stripes along the dorsal region; beneath 

 reddish yellow with two series of black 

 spots in the middle region. Length twelve 

 to twenty-two inches. 



Storeria dekayi. De Kay's brown 

 snake. Color above, brown to greyish 

 with a clay-colored dorsal band margined 

 by dotted lines. A blackish patch on 

 each side of the occipital; a dark bar be- 

 tween this and the eye; beneath dull white 

 with a few black specks. Length eleven 

 to thirteen inches. Feeds on earth worms 



Storeria Oeeipitomaeulata. Red bel- 

 lied storeria. Above chestnut brown to 

 grey, sometimes with a paler vertebral 

 stripe; beneath salmon red; three distinct 

 light colored spots behind the head. 

 Length one foot and less. 



Eutaeuia sauriia. Swift garter, ribbon 

 snake. Slender in form; above pale 

 brown to chocolate, with three yellow 

 stripes; beneath greenish white. The 

 length of the tail is generally more than 

 one-third the total length, which in the 

 adult is a little less than three feet. 



Eutaeuia sirtalis. Common garter 

 snake. Stout in form; greenish grey or 

 brown above the laterel stripes, which 

 are not conspicuous; two or three rows 

 of small dark spots; beneath pale green- 

 ish white, each abdominal plate with a 

 dark blotch at each side. Length about 

 two feet. Feeds upon toads and frogs; 

 the young upon earth worms. 



Eutaeuia sirtalis ordiuata. Stripeless 

 garter snake. Olive green with three 

 rows of blackish spots on each side; dor- 

 sal stripe faint; lateral stripes absent. 

 Not common. 



VENOMOUS SNAKES. 

 . Incistrodon coutortrix. Copperhead. 



