THE COLUBRINE SNAKES 2565 



trees, or some such place, where it remains till awakened by the returning warmth 

 of spring. Not unfrequently several snakes occupy the same hole for the winter, 

 and occasionally a considerable number have been found coiled up together in a 

 mass. 



The preceding species, as already said, belongs to the typical section 

 of the genus, in which the teeth of the hinder upper Jawbone do not 

 Snakes exceed thirty in number, and are gradually enlarged toward the 

 hinder end of the series, while the eyes and nostrils are lateral, and 

 the internasal shields broadly truncated in front. As examples of the second sec- 

 tion, in which, while the number and characteristics of the teeth are similar, the 

 small eyes and nostrils are directed upward and outward, and the internasal shields 

 usually much narrowed in front, we select the tesselated snake ( T. tesselatus) and 

 the nearly-allied viperine snake ( T. viperinus), both of which are found in Europe, 

 the former being a more southerly type than the latter, and extending eastward 

 into Southwestern and Central Asia. The tesselated snake, which never grows quite 

 so large as the common ringed species, is olive or olive gray above, and may be 

 either uniformly colored, or marked with dark spots, usually arranged quincun- 

 cially, on the back. The nape of the neck is ornamented with a dark chevron; the 

 upper labial shields are yellowish, with dark lines of division between them; and the 

 under parts are either yellow or red mottled and marbled with black, or almost 

 wholly black. The viperine snake is rather smaller, having the upper surface gray, 

 brown, or reddish, with a zigzag black band down the back, and a row of yellow- 

 centred black spots down each side. There is a more or less distinctly-marked 

 oblique dark band on each side of the top of the head, and another on the nape of 

 the neck; while the labials and under parts are colored like those of the tesselated 

 snake. The general habits of both these species are very similar to those of the 

 ringed snake; but in the spring they are more generally found concealed in pairs 

 beneath stones, and only take to the water in the summer. As other well-known 

 North- American representatives of the genus, we may refer to the garter snake ( 7! 

 ordinatus) and moccasin snake (T. fasriatus*) , the former belonging to the first, and 

 the latter to the second section. As an example of the third section, in which the 

 last two or third upper teeth are suddenly enlarged, the Indian long-banded snake 

 may be mentioned. 



Among the genera belonging to this section the only other that our 

 Oblique-Eyed , . .. 



Snake s P ace admits of even mentioning is the one containing the numerous 



species of oblique-eyed snakes. Generally having a smaller eye than 

 the water snakes, the members of this genus are distinguished by having only a 

 single internasal shield; the nostril being placed in a half-divided nasal shield, 

 while the teeth of the lower jaw are of nearly equal size, and the scales lack the 

 pits characterizing those of an allied genus. There are from eighteen to twenty- 

 five teeth in the hinder upper jawbone; the head is, at most, but slightly distinct 

 from the neck; the body is cylindrical; and the tail, which has two rows of shields 

 beneath, is of moderate length, the scales being usually striated and keeled. The 

 genus is represented by eleven species, some of which are found in the New World, 

 while others inhabit Southeastern Asia, and others tropical Africa. 



