Coluber sirtalis
1875.
Nov. 18 [November 18, 1875] Clear still and a fine day. Jim left his old
dog Prince with me for trial and this
morning I drove up to the hill, with
Stone and put up the horse in an
old barn on Pleasant St. On the way
we saw a fine [delete]Lagopus in the[/delete]
Archibuteo in the lagopus plumage,
poised over the fields below Belmont.
Beat up the Belmont run and across
Prospect St. to Cotton's run, the old
dog flushing several grouse out of 
range on the way. Finally he found
a bevy of 5 quail in the Cotton run and
as they rose I shot one. Got back to 
the house by 1 P.M. W.B. [William Brewster] quail 1
  Nov. 19 [November 19, 1875] Clear and another fine day. Ther. [Thermometer] 18 [degrees] at sunrise.
Took old Prince again this morning
and with S. [Stone] drove up to Brown's
where we put up the horse. Beat the
Cotton run and the swamps behind
Chenery's also the whole Clematis brook
valley without starting a quail. We
however started a pair of grouse from 
a patch of briars & wild rose bushes, in
the middle of a perfectly open field,
the whole available cover not exceeding
6 sq ft in extent: Stone went by this
little thicket literally within a few feet,
and after he had got nearly out of
gun shot the two birds rose behind him
Was much surprised to see a large
striped snake (C. sirtalis [Coluber sirtalis]) in perfect heath [health]
a vigor and as lively as in June.