ORDER III. 



OPHIDIA. 



Family. 

 SERPENTIA. 



Coluber. Lin. 



Generic characters. Body lo7ig, cijlindrical and tapering ; 

 head oblong, covered above ivith smooth polygonal plates; 

 above covered tviUi rhomboidal scales, imbricate, reticulated, 

 or carinated, or smooth ; abdomen with transverse plates ; be- 

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

 jaws 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 Pliys. Res. p 116. 



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- 



