BLUE RACER OR BLACK SNAKE. 693 
GENUS BASCANION. Baird and Girard. 
Body elongated, attaining a length of five or six feet; head elongated, passing 
gradually into the neck; vertical plate elongated; superciliaries wide; occipitals 
large; postfrontals moderately large; postorbitals two; anteorbitals two ; loral large; 
nasals two; labials large; inframaxillaries weli developed ; mouth deeply cleft; dorsal 
scales in 17, rarely 19 rows, all smooth; gastrosteges, 170-210; urosteges, 80-110; anal 
plate bifid; color above black, olive, or blue. 
BASCANION CONSTRICTOR Linneeus. 
Blue Racer or Biack Snake. 
Coluber constrictor, LINNAZUS, GMELIN, HARLAN, SCHLEGEL, STORER, HOLBROOK, 
THOMPSON, KIRTLAND, DeKay. 
Hierophis constrictor, BONAPARTE. 
Coryphodon constrictor, DUMERIL and BIBRON, GUNTHER. 
Bascanion constrictor, BAIRD and GIRARD, ALLEN, COPE, JORDAN. 
? Bascanion foxii, BAIRD and GIRARD. 
? Coluber flaviventris, SAY, HARLAN, HOLBROOK. 
? Bascanion flaviventris, BAIRD and GIRARD. 
General color above in ourspecimens, varying from uniform azure blue to blue-black ; 
below greenish-bine; gular region, lower jaw, labial, and rostral region of upper jaw 
whitish ; a light line passing from the rostral just above the lorai and eye, to the 
anterior edge of the superciliaries; vertical plate pentagonal, with irregular sides, 
broadest anteriorly, in length about equal to commissural line of occipitals; upper 
CoLUBER VULPINUS Baird and Girard. 
Fox Snake. 
Scotophis vulpinus, BAIRD and GIRARD. 
Coluber vulpinus, COPE. 
Elaphis spiloides, DUMERIL and BIBRON. 
Coluber spiloides, GUNTHER. 
General color above light-browx, with a vertebral and two lateral rows of chocolate 
colored blotches, the vertebral very large, covering from five to nine scales in length and 
about twelve in width, the lateral much smaller, about three scales in length and from 
three to five in width; these blotehes extending upon the tail, but smaller; head light- 
brown toyellow; abdomen with four series of approximately quadrilateral black blotches; 
vertical plate nearly an equilateral triangle; oceipitals large, rounded behind; upper 
labials, 8, the sixth and seventh largest, lower, 11, the fifth much the largest; infra- 
maxillaries reaching to the sixth lower labial; doxsal scales in 25 rows; gastrosteges, 
300-310; urosteges, 65-70; taillarge at base. Length, 5 feet; head, 1% inches; tail, 9% 
inches; transverse diameter of head, 14 inches; of neck, 10 lines; circumference of 
body, 5 inches. 
Habitat. Massachusetts, New York, Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Kansas, Minnesota. 
Although this species has not yet, so far as I know, been observed in Ohio, its 
range is such as te render its occurrence in the northern part of the State very probable. 
