COLUBER 193 



stripe (Plate VII., fourth figure); such specimens 

 are so coloured from birth. This colour variety, 

 which is so strikingly different from the typical form, 

 is connected with the latter by the var. schwoederi, 

 Werner, in which the spots form two vertebral 

 series, and the var. elsneri, Werner, in which the light 

 vertebral band is broken up by dark transverse bars, 

 producing a ladder-like pattern. 



Size. — Rarely exceeding a length of 3 feet. 



Distribution. — Southern Italy, Sicily, Malta, Istria, 

 Dalmatia, and other parts of the Balkan Peninsula, 

 Grecian islands, Crimea, Asia Minor. The altitudinal 

 range does not extend beyond 1,600 feet. 



Habits. — This is not only the prettiest European 

 snake as regards its markings, whether in the form 

 of spots or of stripes, but also the most graceful in its 

 movements. Unless compelled to fly for safety, 

 there is something slow and deliberate in its be- 

 haviour which is more suggestive of Coronella than of 

 most other species of Coluber. It is fond of climbing, 

 and if the terrarium in which it is kept be provided 

 with a bush or small tree, it will spend most of the 

 time gracefully coiled round the branches. Usually 

 very savage when fresh caught, some specimens 

 become quite tame in captivity. In Dalmatia, where 

 it is not uncommon, this snake is found principally 

 among prickly shrubs, in hedges, or on old walls. It 

 awakens from its winter slumber later than other 

 South European snakes. Although occasionally 

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