366 THE MOUNTAIN. 



as elsewhere. " Range, New England, west to Michigan, 

 south to Carolinas."* 



ORDER II. SAURIA. Family AG AMIDES. 



TROPIDOLEPIS IJndulatus. The brown swift is the only 

 representative of this order on the mountain, f It is a gray- 

 ish-brown lizard, beneath greenish and white ; from five to 

 eight inches long, and has the power to change its color. It 

 lives on insects, frequenting pine woods ; called sometimes 

 pine lizard, and brown scorpion. It is quick in its motions, 

 moving with incredible celerity, and is an ugly creature, but 

 not venomous. Range, from Gulf of Mexico to 43 north 

 latitude. 



ORDER III. OPHIDIA, (Serpents.) 



The Ophidian, or snake tribe, have a number of genera 

 and species on the mountain. In Baird and Girard's cata- 

 logue of well-ascertained North American serpents in the 

 Smithsonian Institution, thirteen genera and eighteen spe- 

 cies are recorded as belonging to Pennsylvania. Many of 



* Agassiz states that a map showing the geographical distribution 

 of North American turtles would exhibit '-the whole table-land be- 

 tween the Sierra Nevada of California and the Rocky Mountains, as 

 well as the eastern slope of the latter, down to the great American 

 desert, without a single species of turtle over this extensive tract." 

 He continues : " It would be a mistake, however, to infer, from this 

 fact, that these animals are excluded from mountainous regions. In 

 the range of the Alleghanies there are many species which ascend to 

 the height of several thousand feet, and among those that reach the 

 greatest height are Cistudo Virginea, Chelydra serpentina, and a 

 species of Aspidonectes, probably Asp. nuchalis, (Com., p. 406;) but 

 I regret that I am unable to give the absolute height with any degree 

 of accuracy." Contributions, vol. i. p. 452. 



The great Central Railroad of Pennsylvania perforates the Alle- 

 ghany 2200 feet above tide-water level. Several species are found 

 above this line on the mountain, as the Snapper, the Virginia Box- 

 turtle, Ozotheca odorata, and Chrysemys picta. 



f This is a numerous order of reptiles in the torrid zone, there 

 being found some three hundred species. 



