152 NEW YORK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



as the adult. Young moccasins show brilHant shades of red 

 and yellow at birth. The adults show a dull pattern of vary- 

 ing shades of sombre olive. Very old specimens of the same 

 species exhibit no pattern at all, the body being of a dull green. 



Quite different from the crotalines are the young of some 

 of the colubrine snakes. The young of our Blacksnake (Bas- 

 canium constrictor) are pale gray, with blotches of brown or red 

 along the back. They much resemble the Milk Snake (Ophibolus 

 doUatus friaiigiilus). During their second year, they become 

 darker, and the pattern appears diffused. The third year shows 

 hardly a trace of the spots as the black of the adult form appears, 

 although the sides still indicate the marking of the young snake. 



The Chicken-Snake (Coluber quadrivittatiis) is remarkable, as 

 are most of the species of the Genus Coluber, in showing, when 

 young, an entirely different pattern from the adult, both forms 

 being strongly colored. At the time of hatching the young 

 chicken-snake presents a grayish appearance, decorated wdth a 

 regular series of oblong blackish saddles. As the reptile ap- 

 proaches maturity, the body colors change to a yellow, a dark 

 stripe appears on each side of the saddle-like markings, and one 

 on the side of the reptile's body. These stripes become very dis- 

 tinct before the saddles begin to fade. The latter change takes 

 place usually during the third or fourth year, the mature form 

 of the species being a uniform yellow or brown, traversed by four 

 longitudinal stripes. 



Not alone do the snakes evince these color transitions among 

 reptiles. A number of species of lizards show like characteris- 

 tics. The Blue-Tailed Lizard (Eunicces qninqucUnactus), as its 

 name implies, is a species possessing a brilliant blue tail. The 

 body is blackish, ornamented with five yellow stripes. As this 

 species matures, the tail becomes a sombre gray, the body 

 changes from black to brown, the stripes entirely disappear, and 

 the head changes to a bright red. This form is known as 

 Eiimeces quinquclincatns erythrocephalus, and only recently was 

 demonstrated to be merely the adult form of the Blue-Tailed 

 Lizard, instead of a distinct species, as had previously been 

 supposed. 



A number of interesting observations on the growth of the 

 caudal appendage of rattlesnakes has been made in the Reptile 

 House. It had been repeatedly noticed that the appearance of a 

 new ring of the rattle is attended with the shedding of the snake's 

 skin. Some weeks prior to the shedding of the skin, and in fact 

 before the eyes become cloudy, or the pattern fades, a swelling 



