COLUBER igi 



winter-quarters. It also avoids excessive heat, never 

 showing itself in the daytime during the hotter 

 months in the South of Europe. 



Reproduction. — Pairing takes place between the 

 middle of May and the middle of June. The eggs 

 are laid towards the end of June or in July, in holes 

 in walls or hollow trees, under moss, sometimes even 

 in the dung-heaps of farms, and hatch in September. 

 According to trustworthy observers, the eggs, which 

 measure i J to 2 inches in length, and less than 1 inch 

 in width, number only five or six, rarely up to 

 eight. 



The young on emerging are highly suggestive of 

 young Grass-snakes in colour and markings, as well 

 as in their much less slender shape as compared with 

 the adult. They measure about 5 inches, and are 

 at once most ready to bite. 



12. Coluber leopardinus, Bonaparte 



(Coluber quadrilineatus, Pallas) 



The Leopard Snake 



Form. — Slender. Snout obtuse, scarcely promi- 

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



Head-Shields. — Rostral broader than deep, just 

 visible from above. Frontal once and one-third 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 longer than deep. One pre- and two post- 

 oculars. Temporals 1 + 2 or 2 + 3. Upper labials 



