106 



are very similar to many of the articles found in the mounds in such posi- 

 tion as to lead to the supposition that they were placed there by the build- 

 ers of the mounds. 



< )X LeCoXTK's TEKUAl'IXS, E.\[V,S CONCINXA AND K. P'LOHIUANA. By O. P. IIaY. 



On THE HKEEDINi; HAHITS, EGGS, AND YOIXG OF CERTAIN SNAKES. By 0. P. 



Hay. 



Notwithstanding the deep impression which serpents have made on the 

 human mind, as shown in literature and in popular conversation, it is sur- 

 prising how little accurate information has been accumulated concerning 

 some of their habits. The densest ignorance, the result of inattention and 

 general lack of interest, prevails with regard to some of the most interest- 

 ing matters connected with the life-history of snakes; while on the other 

 hand, many of the popular notions about the powers of these animals are 

 either wholly false or are gross exaggerations of the truth. The breeding 

 habits of our snakes, even of the most common species, belong among the 

 things about which little is known. Even our biologists have given but 

 little attention to this subject, while unscientific people simply recognize 

 the fact that nests of snake eggs are occasionally met with. For instance, 

 who would not suppose that all the essential facts are known concerning 

 the reproduction of the common black-racer, Bascanion constrictor? Never- 

 theless, where have we been told when it lays its eggs, how many there 

 are of them, how they are concealed, and when they hatch? 



Some snakes are known to lay eggs which after a period produce young. 

 < )ther snakes are known to retain the eggs within the body until the young 

 have attained sufficient size and strength to care for themselves after birth. 

 Still other species are supposed sometimes to lay eggs, at other times to 

 bring forth living young,* or to produce some eggs and some living young 

 at the same time.t There are, indeed, oviparous snakes and snakes which 

 are ovoviviparous, and there is a conspicuous difference in their eggs. The 

 eggs of the oviparous species are furnished with a thick, tough, flexible 

 covering, or "shell," while the eggs of the species which produce living 



- Proc. A. A. A, S., 1873, p. 185. 

 tl'roc. Phil. Acad. Sci., 1887, p. 121. 



