ig 4 



COLUBRID.E 



taking lizards, its principal food consists of mammals 

 and birds, which are killed before being devoured, 

 the Leopard Snake being, like the other members of 

 the genus Coluber, a constrictor. 



Reproduction. — According to Werner, the eggs, two 

 to five in number, are deposited in midsummer; 

 they are remarkably elongate : z\ inches long, f inch 

 broad. 



13. Coluber scalaris, Schinz 

 The Ladder Snake 



Form. — Moderately slender. Snout pointed, 

 strongly projecting beyond the mouth. Tail one- 

 sixth to one-fifth of the total length. 



Head-Shields. — Rostral deeper than broad, forming 

 an acute angle above, wedged in between the inter- 

 nasals, the portion visible from above nearly as long 



as its distance 

 from the fron- 

 tal. Frontal 

 about once and 

 one-third to 

 once and a half 

 as long as broad, 

 as long as or 

 shorter than its 

 distance from 



Fig. 26 (after Sordelli) 



the end of the snout, nearly as long as the parietals. 

 Loreal longer than deep. One pre- and two or three 



