463 



WAMPUM SNAKE. 



Coluber Fasciatus. C. cceruleus, suhtus paUidior cceruleo luci- 

 diore variatvs. 



Blue Snake, paler and variegated with brighter blue beneath. 

 Wampum Snake. Catesh. Carol. 2. yl, 58 

 Coluber fasciatus ? Lin. Syst. Nat. p. 378. 

 Fasciated Snake. N^it. Misc. wl. 8. pL 266, 

 Abdominal scuta 128 ? subcaudal scales 67 ? 



This, which is one of the handsomest of the 

 North American snakes, is described and figured by 

 Catesby, but as that author lived at a period when 

 the rules of modern natural history were in a great 

 degree unknown, he seems to have given a ge- 

 neral rather than a minutely accurate representa- 

 tion of the animal ; his figure not expressing the 

 abdominal and subcaudal scuta and squamae. The 

 Wampum Snake, he informs us, is of a dark blue 

 above, the belly being finely clouded with brighter 

 blue : the head small in proportion to the body : he 

 adds, that it is an innocent species, and some- 

 times grows to the length of five feet, retaining 

 its colours and marks throughout all periods of its 

 growth. It receives its common title of the 

 Wampum Snake from its colours, which resemble 

 those of the strings of Indian money called Wam- 

 pum, composed of shells cut into regular pieces, 

 ^ and strung with a mixture of blue and white. 

 It is a native of Carolina and Virginia. 



