30 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



Dec. 1st near Washingborough, a few miles out of Lincoln ; and about 

 Dec. 14th an immature female Black-throated Diver (Colymbus arcticus) 

 was shot on the coast near Boston. On or about Nov. 27th a male 

 Great Shearwater (Pujinus major) was shot not far from the mouth of 

 the River Welland. This seems an unusually late date for the occur- 

 rence of this species. — F. L. Blathwayt (Lincoln). 



EEPTILIA. 



Notes on the Pine-Snake in Confinement. — This Snake (Coluber 

 melanoleucus) , a native of North America, grows to a length of about 

 seven feet. It is very beautifully marked, and has very often — rare in 

 Snakes — a perfectly white throat, although the greater part of the 

 under surface is mottled with salmon-pink. The colour above is 

 whitish, with large dark brown spots edged with black ; the scales on 

 the back are keeled, though on the sides they are quite flat, and there 

 are also along the sides a number of smaller dark brown spots. The 

 specimen which I possess was imported about six months ago, and is 

 now very tame and gentle, and never attempts to bite. Its food con- 

 sists almost entirely of young mice, and occasionally a small rat ; but 

 it greatly prefers the first-named prey. 



This Snake seems to possess elasticity of the jaws in a much lesser 

 degree than other Snakes. A young Boa which I have at the present 

 time, about two feet long, will take a half-grown rat with comparative 

 ease, but the Pine-Snake, measuring six feet, has often failed to 

 swallow a rat of the same size. My specimen always makes an attempt 

 to constrict its prey, but generally unsuccessfully ; this is doubtless 

 due to the difference in size between the Snake and its prey. 



This species has the character of being somewhat of a cannibal, 

 but I cannot corroborate this by my own experience, though a friend 

 who kept two Grass- Snakes (T. matrix) with a G. melanoleucus found 

 one morning the two smaller Snakes dead, with the appearance of 

 having been crushed. My specimen has only cast once since I had it, 

 the whole process taking some time. 



The Pine- Snake is very hardy, mine being kept at from 55° to 60°, 

 but even if kept below this temperature it still remains quite lively. 

 It can also give a very loud hiss. This Snake, both from my own 

 experience and that of others, is a very suitable inmate for the 

 vivarium, not only on account of its hardiness, but also by the ease 

 with which it may be tamed. — B. J. Horton (305, Stratford Road, 

 Sparbrook, Birmingham). 



