116 



some point in Maryland not far from Washington, a lot of twenty-seven 

 eggs, which the finder said were the eggs of the copperhead. It was re- 

 ported that the egi^s were thro^vn up out of the ground by the plow, and 

 that the mother snake was near by and had resented the disturbing of her 

 treasures. She had been killed, but had not been sent along with the eggs. 

 Since it was supposed that the copperhead produces living young, the occu- 

 pants of the laboratory were anxious to learn if this opinion were err ne- 

 ous. Accordingly one of the eggs was opened, and in it was found a young 

 hog nosed snake, fully develope'l, and ready to assist himself on the stage 

 of action. This Heterodon quite closely resembles the copperhead, and most 

 people are not accustomed to make nice dis'^inctions among snakes. This 

 close resemblance may account for some of the statements of the large 

 number of young produced by the copperheads.* 



The eggs referred to were between an inch and a quarter and an inch and 

 a half long, an I about seven-eighths inch in short diameter. The egg cov- 

 ering was thick, tough, and flexible, resembling a piece of parchment. 

 There is little if any deposit of lime in it. Of thes-i eggs, some were found 

 to have hitched during the night of September 6. Others, which were 

 buried somewhat deeper in some clay, esi^aped from the eggs later; but all 

 were out by the afternoon of the 8th. The length of such as were meas- 

 ured varied between 7 and 8 inches. From the moment of escape from the 

 egg all were quite active, and manif'^sted many of the characteristics of the 

 adults. Some of the little fellows were quitt* saucy, and would make a pre- 

 tense of striking at the approaching finger ; but their efforts in that line 

 were rather feeble. A faint hiss was sometimes uttered, but that may not 

 have been voluntary. One would sometimes flttten its head and body and 

 rear up with the anterior third of its length free from the ground. If one 

 did not know well their inoffensive natures, one would be excused for fear- 

 ing to handle them. An extremely singular habit possessed by the adults 

 is that of feigning death. On being struck or teased they will roll over 

 and over, as if in the intenseet agony, and then throw themselves on the 

 back and lie there as if dea'l. Out of some fifteen of the young experi- 

 mented with, I succeeded in getting only two or three to go through with 

 this performance, but these did it to perfection. On being lightly struck a 

 few times, they would turn over on the back, writhe about a while, and 

 then lie perfectly still. If turned right side up, they would again turn on 

 the back. If left undisturbed for a little while they would turn over and 



Amer. Nat., Vol. XVII, p. 1235. 



