ORDER III. 



OPHIDIA. 



Family. 

 SERPENTIA. 



Coluber. Lin. 



Generic characters. Body long, cylindrical and tapering ; 

 head oblong, covered above with smooth polygonal plates; 

 above covered with rhomboidal scales, imbricate, reticulated, 

 or carina ted, or smooth ; abdomen with transverse plates ; be- 

 neath the tail with double plates; anus transverse, simple; 

 jaics furnished with sharp teeth ; without poisonous fangs. 

 Some species oviparous, others ovo-viviparous. 



C. sirtalis. Lin. The Striped Snake. 



Shaw's Gen. Zoology, vol. iii. pt. 2. p. 535. 

 Harlan's Med. and I'liys. Res. p. 110. 



This pretty species, generally known as the striped snake, is 

 our most common snake. The usual length is about two 

 feet ; occasionally it is met with two feet and a half long. 

 The upper part of the body is of a dark olive brown color. A 

 narrow yellow band extends from the occiput to the extremity 

 of the tail ; on each side of this, joining the abdominal plates, 

 is a somewhat broader parallel band of the same color. The 

 brown color of the back is variegated with black blotches, 

 which are much more strongly marked in the smaller speci- 

 mens ; in the larger specimens, they are hardly discernible, un- 

 less the scales be slightly separated by the observer. Abdo- 



