SNAKES. 279 
The following is a brief description of C. levis: The head is 
slightly distinct from the neck; the eye is small, and has a round 
pupil; the rostral, broad as deep, is produced posteriorily 
between the internasals; the loreal is long; there is one 
pree-ocular and there are two post-oculars, seven upper labials 
and four lower ones. The scales are smooth, having apical pits, 
and are arranged in nineteen rows; the ventrals number from 
153 to 199, the sub-caudals are placed in from forty-two to seventy 
pairs, and the anal scute is, as a rule, divided. The upper parts 
are brown, greenish-brown, or reddish, marked along the back 
with two parallel rows of dark brown or _ brick-red spots. 
Sometimes these spots are confluent, and then these dorsal mark- 
ings somewhat resemble those of the Viper (P. berus). There are 
generally on the top of the head, two broad dark brown or brick- 
red streaks which form a scape like that of an inverted V. There 
is a dark thinnish stripe on each side of the head, which runs 
from the nostril and apparently through the eye to the angle of 
the mouth. The colours of the lower parts are various, such as 
red, pinkish, orange, brown, grey, and almost black, uniform or 
. spotted with black and white. 
This Snake hardly ever exceeds a length of 2ft., of which the 
tail measures about one-fifth. It is found in Hampshire, Dorset- 
shire, and Surrey, and on the Continent as far north as 623deg. 
It is also a native of Syria. 
The genus Coronella numbers about eighteen species, and has 
representatives not only in Europe, but also in Asia (South-west), 
India, and in America, north of the Equator. 
The Bordeaux Snake (Coronella girondica) is a nice little 
animal and very easily tamed. In appearance it is much like the 
Smooth Snake (C. Jevis). The following are the chief differences 
between the two reptiles: C. girondica has eight upper labials 
instead of, as a rule, seven; a broader rostral than its near 
relative, hardly visible from above, and ending very obtusely ; 
scales generally in twenty-one rows, and not always in nineteen. 
While the Smooth Snake has the markings on its back usually 
disposed in pairs, the Bordeaux Snake possesses them placed in 
one row. And the lower parts of the latter animal, instead 
of being usually uniform in colour or finely speckled, 
