514 OPHIDIANS. 



cies are exceedingly bold and resolute, and defend themselves 

 obstinately when attacked. They even engage in deadly con- 

 flict with the Rattle Snakes ; and owing to their superior agility, 

 are generally victors, evading the poisonous thrusts of their an- 

 tagonists, and seizing the opportunity to strangle them in their 

 folds, like the Boa or Python ; indeed, the specific name, Con- 

 strictor, is given in allusion to the mode in which the Black 

 Snake kills its prey. 



The snakes of the genus Tropidonotus, differ from the True 

 Colubrines, in possessing the power of flattening or depressing 

 the body. This enables them to swim well, and hence, they are 

 all more or less aquatic. They are generally viviparous, the eggs 

 being developed previous to exclusion. 



Of this genus, (1) the familiar STRIPED or GARTER-SNAKE, T. 

 tania^ (Lat. a ribbon,) or T. sirtalis, (two to five feet long,) is 

 the typical representative. Though frequently found about the 

 water, or in marshy places, it is as often on high dry ground, 

 and has been noticed at an elevation of two thousand feet above 

 tide water. When irritated, without the means of escape, it 

 raises its scales so as to give the body a roughened appearance ; 

 and under such circumstances, it will bite, leaving a troublesome, 

 though not dangerous wound. Its fecundity is so great, that in 

 one instance, it is said, eighty-one young, each over nine inches 

 in length, were taken from a single female ; (2) the Water- 

 Snake, T. sipedon, also called the Water-Adder, sometimes the 

 Moccasin-Snake, and erroneously thought to be poisonous, is 

 found rather abundantly in the Northern States, and also, to some 

 extent, in the Middle States. This Snake is from two to five 

 feet in length ; it moves in the water with great ease, and may be 

 said to live in it habitually. In the Southern States, its place is 

 supplied by the beautiful GREEN-SNAKE, Leptophis, (Gr. leptos, 

 thin ; aphis f snake,) ceslivus, about two feet in length. Another 

 species, L. saurita, is found in the Northern, and, to some ex- 

 tent, in Western States. It is the Ribbon-Snake, or the Little 

 Garter-Snake, as it is called in New York, of a chocolate brown 

 color, gentle but very nimble, climbing trees with facility. 

 Length from one two feet. These are the only species of the 

 genus Leptophis. Both have long and slender bodies, carinate 

 scales, and very long tails. 



The SAND-SNAKE, Psammophis, (Gr. sand-snake,) jlagettifor- 

 mis, (Lat. of whip-form,) is a long, slender, and exceedingly 

 swift species, found in South Carolina and Florida, its tail 

 having unimbricated scales, and being one-fourth its length. 



The- DIAMOND-SNAKE, Coronella Sayi, is conspicuous for its 



