14 BULLETIN 61, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



tend to be formed under the incitement of the sexual stimuKis. In- 

 deed ElHcott goes on to say, ' 'The second time I noticed a ball of black 

 snakes rolling slowly down a steep and stony hillside on the bank of 

 the same river, but about 2 miles above Union Factor}', Baltimore 

 County, Maryland. Some of the snakes were of considerable length 

 and thickness, and, as I noticed clearly, Icept together by procreative 

 impulses. ^^ (The italics are mine.) 



The young are born alive, the usual number in each brood varying 

 with the age of the snake, in the different forms and possibly in dif- 

 ferent parts of the range of the same form. (See p. 191.) Dr. J. 

 Schneck (1882, 1008) records a brood of 78 in sirtalis, and I have 

 seen as few as four in hutleri. I have had opportunity of witnessing 

 the birth of hundreds of young garter-snakes of several different 

 species, and as the method was exactly the same in each case observed, 

 there is little doubt but that it varies little throughout the genus. 

 Just before parturition the female stretches out more or less, and may 

 or may not crawl slowly about, but in either case maintains her tail 

 curved slightly upward at the base, thus expanding the anal opening. 

 Distinct labor periods occur, during which the young emerge singly, 

 although a varying number may be extruded in a single labor. In 

 the majority of instances each young is still tightly coiled and in- 

 vested in the fetal membrane when it appears, exactly as it has laid 

 in the oviduct, although, owing to the occasional bursting of the sac 

 during parturition, they sometimes appear to crawl from the anus. 

 After birth the young snake lies quietly for a few seconds and then 

 struggles lustily to thrust its head through the sac. If it is not suc- 

 cessful it smothers (w^iich occasionall}' occurs), but if it succeeds in 

 breaking the sac it yawns once or twice, thrusts out its tongue, and 

 crawls off, becoming at once very lively. As soon as the body be- 

 comes dry, the skin is shed, exuviation often beginning within fifteen 

 minutes after the young snake has been ushered into the world. 



The young snakes are apparently independent nearly from the first, 

 probably, as Hay (1892 a, 389) has pointed out, owing to the fact 

 that the yolk body is largely consumed before birth. I have never 

 noticed in the case of those born in captivity {parietalis, sirtalis, hut- 

 leri, radix, sackeni) a definite tendency in the yovmg to remain near 

 the mother for a time after birth, as has often been described. They 

 almost immediately crawl away, hiding under sticks, stones, leaves, 

 or other objects. Thus the occasional observations that have been 

 recorded of a mother and her brood in the wild state were probably 

 made immediately after the birth of the latter. 



After birth the young snakes are for some time very secretive, and 

 show usually a very decided tendency to conceal themselves under 

 objects, and even to burrow in loose dirt, when in confinement. This 

 is without doubt the reason why specimens of about this age are so 



