G26 



Crcarfurj) of Natural 



being every where detached, and the new j exclusively the borders of streams, and, when 

 skin perfectly hard underneath, the animal disturbed, often takes refuge in them, and 

 bursts it at the neck, and creeping through ! conceals itself at the bottom The SCAKLET 

 some dense herbage, or low brushwood, leaves | SNAKE (Coluber cuccineus), which is heauti- 

 it attached, and comes forth in far brighter fully marked with scarlet, black, and yellow, 

 and clearer colours than before." At times | inhabits the Southern States. The FIXE 

 a strong fetor proceeds from it ; but this i SNAKE. (Coluber melanoleucus.) This species 



appears to be sexual, or made use of as the 

 means of annoying its enemies. 



sometimes attains the length of eight feet : 



the colour whitish, with large blackish spots. 



It is common in all the more southern and 

 The JAVA SNAKE. (Coluber Javanicus.") \ wes tern parts of the United States: is of a 

 This Snake grows to the length of nine feet, gentle disposition, and is sometimes tamed 

 and is principally seen in the rice fields of an( i kept about houses. The CHICKEN 

 Java. The head is large and flat, and co- SNAKE, or HOUSE SNAKE, (Coluber guttutus) 

 vered with large scaly plates : the mouth is i s a beautiful species. The body is elongated, 

 furnished with double rows of teeth; but somewhat flattened on the back, with smooth 

 not being of a poisonous nature, it is destitute ! scales; the colour whitish ; a row of large 



of fangs. From behind the eyes pass two 

 deep-blue stripes to the upper part of the 

 neck, where they unite : a third stripe of the 

 same colour proceeds from the snout to the 

 occiput, where it divides into two, and sur- 

 rounds a yellow spot, marked with a fey 



brownish spots, bordered with black, upon 

 the back ; a second series of smaller and 

 darker ones on each side, alternating with 

 the former ; beneath, with small, square, 

 black specks. The abdominal plates and 

 sub -caudal scales are very numerous. It 



blue specks. The upper part of the bod.y is j attains a large size, and inhabits all parts of 

 divided, as it were, into squares resembling the United States. Some of the Snakes here 

 ripes of described belong to different subgenera of 



a kind of lattice-work, formed by sti 

 bright blue with gold-coloured edges ; the 

 middle parts of the squares exhibiting 

 changeable hues of gray, yellow, blue, and 

 green : each side of the body is also marked 

 with a row of white spots situated at the 

 crossings of the blue stripes. It is altogether 

 a superb species. It devours rats and other 

 small quadrupeds, birds, &c. 



The .iEscuLAPiAN SHAKE. (Coluber ^Es- 

 culapii.) This is common in most of the 

 warm parts of Europe, and is nowhere more 

 frequent than in the neighbourhood of Rome: 

 it is therefore not improbable to be the spe- 



Colubricke. We must refer our readers to 

 the work of Schlegel on Serpents. 



SNAKE-FLY. The Snake-flies, or Ka- 

 phidiadce, are a group of Neuroptei a which 

 receive their common name from the elon- 

 gated form of the head and neck, and the 

 facility with which they move the front of 

 the body in different directions. They are 

 mostly to be found in the neighbourhood of 

 woods and streams ; they nre of compara- 

 tively small size, very active in their motions, 

 and possess very powerful jaws : they prey 



cies peculiarly consecrated by the ancient ! tions. 



upon other insects inhabiting the same situa- 



Romans to the benevolent deity whose name 

 it bears. It is nearly four feet in length, of 

 a rufous colour on the upper parts, and 

 marked on each side by a blackish longitu- 



SNIPE. (Scolopax gallinago.} The com- 

 mon Snipe is eleven or twelve inches long, 



its general habits it nr 

 1 uber natrix or Ringed Snake. The follow- 

 ing species are all natives of North America. 

 The BLACK SNAKE (Coluber constrictor) 

 is found throughout the United States. The 

 colour is black, inclining to slate colour be- 

 neath, with the throat and lips white. It 

 grows to the length of six feet ; the scales 

 are smooth ; and its motions are rapid 

 The CHAIN SNAKE (Coluber getultis)ia of a 

 black and white colour, the biack predomi- 

 nating. The white often forms transverse 

 lines on the back, which unite on the sides, 

 thus forming the semblance of a chain. The 

 markings are, however, extremely variable ; 

 some being thickly sprinkled all over with 

 irre-ularly oval white specks __ The WATER 

 SNAKE (Coluber sipedon), which is found in 



three reddish or rusty white lines and two of 



FK. (SCOLOPAX GAI/LINAGO.) 



black : the chin under the bill is white ; the 

 neck is a mixture of brown and red ; the 



all parts of the United States, is generally | breast and abdomen are white. The scapu- 

 brownon the back, beneath pale, with in- | lars are elegantly striped lengthwise on one 

 distinct dark spots ; but the markings vary web, and barred on the other, with black; 

 exceedingly, and it is often found trans- and yellow : quills dusky, the edge of the 

 versely banded with white. It sometimes primaries, and tips of the secondaries, white, 

 grows to the length of five feet. It frequents those next to the back barred with black, 



