694. REPTILES——COLUBRID&. 
labials, 7, lower, 9; inframaxillaries extending to sixth lower labial; temporal region 
covered with two rows of plates, three or four ineach; rostral large, triangular, project- 
ing between the prefrontals; dorsal scales in 17, rarely 19 rows; gastrosteges, 175-190; 
urosteges, 80-110. Length, 6 feet; head, 13 inches; tail, 18 inches; transverse diameter 
of head, 1 inch; of neck, # inch; circumference of body, 5 inches. 
Habitat, Canada, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, North Carolina, 
South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee, Illinois, Indiana, 
Michigan, and Ohio. ‘‘ St. Domingo.” 
From the State I have seen specimens from London and Lancaster, 
and the portion adjoining Michigan, though it is probably moderately 
common everywhere. Dr. Kirtland observed that it seemed to be upon the - 
increase, as the State became cleared. 
The western Blue Racer differs very markedly in color from the Black 
Snake of the east. In the latter the color is a lustrous pitch black, 
while in ours, in the adult state, it is a light azure, and a very pale 
blue or almost white beneath. The scales in our serpents are somewhat 
broader than in any of the eastern specimens which I have seen. These 
differences are sufficient to constitute what Prof. Cope calls a “ sub- 
species” or geographical variety, to which the name cxruleus may very 
properly be applied. 
The Blue Racers are gregarious animals during hybernation and in 
spring, having been ploughed up in bunches of seventy to eighty, but in 
summer they seem io be solitary, as they are then found singly or in pairs, 
a male and female being together. They inhabit woods, are sometimes 
found under and around barns, and climb trees and bushes in order to 
reach birds’ nests, and obtain the young birds andeggs. They also prey 
upon mice and frogs, and although non-venomous, are said to pursue an 
enemy who retreats before them. Allen remarked that in Massachusetts 
Bascanion constrictor, like the field mice, was more numerous some years 
than others, possibly the result of the same cause in both instances, 
viz. the relative degree to which the ground was protected by snow 
during winter. The same gentleman saw one alive during a break in 
the cold weather on January 29, 1864. 
Genus LIOPELTIS. Fiizinger. 
Body long and slender; head elongated; teeth equal, smooth; cephalic plates nor- 
mal; postfrontals and prefrontals each a pair; postorbitals two; anteorbitals one or 
two; nasals one; loral present, occasionally fused with the nasal; occipitals large; 
mouth deeply cleft; dorsal scales in 15 rows, all smooth; gastrosteges, 129-140; anal 
plate bifid. 
