150 ANIMAL LIFE OF THE BRITISH ISLES. 



a bright collar which serves to indicate this species at a glance. 

 In large females this collar is sometimes missing. Immediately 

 behind it are two patches of black, often united in the middle 

 line, and behind these the ground colour of grey, olive, or brown 

 is uniform to the tip of the tail. Upon the ground colour of the 

 back are laid two rows of small blackish spots, and a row of 

 short vertical bars along each side. The underside, which is 

 covered with broad plates, is chequered in black and white (or 

 grey) ; but is sometimes entirely black. The tail accounts for 

 about one-fifth only of the total length. 



Apart from the head-shields and the broad plates of the 

 underside, the Grass Snake is covered with nineteen rows of 

 small, overlapping, lance-shaped scales with a central ridge or 

 "keel." These scales are an outgrowth from the skin, and 

 when the Snake moults they do not fall off as the hairs of fur- 

 clad animals do, but the entire skin with its scales is cast 

 intact. It separates first at the edges of the jaws, and the Snake 

 pushes against the ground, stones, or plant stems until the loose 

 skin is behind the head. Then it glides out of the remainder, 

 reversing it in the process. In these discarded sloughs the 

 lens-like covering of the eye will be found unbroken. 



In the autumn the Grass Snake retires to some safe shelter 

 under the roots of trees, among the stubs of a coppice, under 

 a brushwood pile or fernstack, in order to pass the winter in 

 sleep. As a rule, several or many associate in hibernation, and 

 when found they are usually twined together in intricate knots. 

 Here they remain until March or April, when the Frogs, Toads, 

 and Newts, emerging from a similar retirement, are available 

 for a good meal. About this time the males seize the females 

 in their jaws, and with their bodies entwined pairing takes 

 place. Some time between June and August the female seeks 

 some convenient mass of fermenting vegetable matter amidst 

 which to burrow and deposit her eggs. If a heap of fresh 

 stable manure is available she will prefer it, the heat hastening 



