BLACK SNAKE (Zamenis constrictor), called also blue racer and hoop snake, a common North American colubrine snake harmless to man, noted for its great speed. It is also an expert climber and swimmer. The black snake is slenderly built and sometimes exceeds 7ft. in length. Western specimens are lighter, but the typical form is black above, dark grey beneath. It feeds on frogs, toads, small snakes, mammals, birds and their eggs, and insects, but the tales of its devouring the,rattlesnake and copper head (qq.v.) are fiction. (See SNAKE.)