COLUBER 185 



grasp it turns round and defends itself. It appears 

 to feed exclusively on mammals and birds, up to the 

 size of a rat or dove, and will readily take dead food. 

 It has a predilection for eggs, and has often been 

 observed to swallow hens' eggs. 



Reproduction. — In Herzegovina pairing takes 

 place from the middle of June to the middle of July, 

 and the eggs are laid soon after, to hatch in Septem- 

 ber or beginning of October. The eggs number six 

 to sixteen, and measure 2 inches by ij inches. The 

 young measure 8 to 14 inches at birth. 



10. Coluber dione, Pallas 

 The Dione Snake 



Form. — Similar to the preceding. Head more 

 convex, a little narrower; snout obtuse, scarcely 

 prominent. Tail about one-fifth of the total length. 



Head- Shields. — Rostral broader than deep, just 

 visible from above. Frontal once and one-fourth 

 to once and a half as long as broad, as long as its 

 distance from the end of the snout, shorter than the 

 parietals. Loreal as long as deep, or a little longer 

 than deep. A large preocular, with a subocular 

 below it, the latter very exceptionally absent ; two 

 or three postoculars. Temporals 2 + 3 or 3 + 3. 

 Upper labials eight or nine (very rarely seven), 

 fourth and fifth or fifth and sixth entering the eye. 

 Four or five lower labials in contact with the 



