GRASS SNAKE. 151 



incubation. The eggs which may number a dozen or anything 

 up to four dozen are equal-ended ovals with a tough, parch- 

 ment-like shell, and all connected in a string. As soon as laid 

 they begin to absorb moisture from their surroundings, and 

 increase in size until they are about an inch and a quarter in 

 length. They hatch in from six to ten weeks, according to 

 temperature, and the baby Grass Snakes measure from six to 

 eight inches. Before hatching they are provided with a special 

 egg-tooth projecting from the front of the jaws, which enables 

 them to pierce the egg-shell. It soon becomes loose and drops 

 off after its special function has been performed. The young 

 Snake sheds its skin before taking its first meal, and thereafter 

 goes through the same process four or five times in a year. 



The Grass Snake appears to have a life comparatively long. 

 The female is about four years old, with a length of two feet, 

 before she begins to breed. Gadow mentions a fine female 

 which he had alive for nine years, and during this period her 

 length increased from thirty-five to forty-two inches. 



Although the Grass Snake may be found frequently about 

 ponds and ditches where there are Frogs, Toads, and Newts to 

 be caught, it is by no means restricted to such resorts, but may 

 be met with on chalk hills, sandy heaths, and other places far 

 removed from water. In addition to the amphibians men- 

 tioned, it feeds occasionally on fish, mice, and small birds. The 

 young Snake takes worms, tadpoles, and the young of newts, 

 frogs, and toads. It swims well and often enters the water to 

 obtain its prey. Although an agile reptile, it may be caught 

 without difficulty where the ground is not too rich in mouse 

 runs or too well covered with furze. The undulations by which 

 it progresses are always horizontal, not vertical as sometimes 

 represented by imaginative artists. When captured it seldom 

 makes any attempt at biting, though it will hiss freely and snap 

 its jaws. It usually seeks rather to disgust its captor by the 

 voiding of a fetid secretion with a strong odour of garlic 



