4O REPTILES AND BIRDS. 



have the care of them. At a sign from their keeper, they will twist 

 themselves round his fingers, arms, and neck, insinuate their heads 

 between his lips to drink his saliva, and to hide and warm them- 

 selves under his clothes. In their wild state the adult Ringed Snake 

 lives in the fields ; and, when full-grown, shows great irritation if 

 attacked. When exasperated, they open their mouths, erect them- 

 selves with great activity, and even bite the hand which attempts to 

 lay hold of them. 



Fig. ii. Ringed Snake. 



This Ringed Snake is the Natrix torquatas of Ray. The female 

 is larger than the male. Its food consists principally of frogs, which 

 are generally seized by the leg and swallowed alive. 



When the skin has just been cast, the Ringed Snake presents 

 beautiful markings when seen swimming across some clear running 

 stream, its head and neck raised above the limpid water and the sun 

 shining on its bright enamelled back. It has been supposed that this 

 Snake casts its skin at fixed intervals ; this, Mr. Bell considers to be 

 a mistake. He has always found that this depended on the tem- 

 perature of the atmosphere and on their state of health. " I have 

 known the skin thrown off," he adds, " four or five times during the 

 year. It is always thrown off by reversing it, so that the transparent 



