CHAPTER III 

 COLORATION 



IN dealing with the coloration, we have first to 

 distinguish between the colour and the markings. 

 The former is very often highly variable among 

 snakes of the same species, to say nothing of the 

 changes which may take place with age or with 

 the condition of the individuals, whether before or 

 after exuviation ; it is not unusual to find among 

 specimens from the same locality a great range of 

 variation, from greyish-white to brown, or red, or 

 black, as, for instance, in our Common Viper. The 

 latter afford more important characters, and often 

 furnish valuable indications for the distinction of 

 species ; but even the disposition of the markings is 

 subject to great individual variations, more likely to 

 mislead than to help the inexperienced student in 

 the discrimination of species. It is therefore always 

 advisable to resort in the first instance to structural 

 characters for the purpose of specific identification, 

 and to fall back on coloration only as a means of 

 confirmation. If we were to be guided by colour 

 and markings alone, how could we believe that an 



adult four-lined Coluber qaatuorlineatus is of the 



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