SNAKES. 51 



itself deeply during the winter. It delights in the 

 piles of driftwood which collect about such pools, and 

 on a midsummer day three or four may be seen 

 stretched out on the same log, evidently enjoying the 

 sunshine and awaiting the near approach of their 

 favorite prey, the leopard and bull frogs. Sometimes 

 another snake, swimming too near, pays with its life 

 the penalty of its rashness. Minnows also, doubtless, 

 form a large proportion of their food, and an instance 

 is on record where an individual of this species was 

 surprised with a pickerel a foot long in its mouth. 



The young of the water snake and its near allies 

 are hatched from eggs either within the body of the 

 mother, or very soon after the eggs are laid, and as 

 many as 33 have been recorded as belonging to a sin- 

 gle brood. Several color varieties of this water snake 

 occur in Indiana, one of which, a uniform blue-black 

 above and reddish beneath, is known as the "black 

 water moccasin," Tropidonotua */'/>/<> erythrogoster 

 (Shaw). 



The diamond water snake, Tropidonotus rhombifera 

 ( Hallow.), is, as above mentioned, a distinct species, 

 known by its 27 rows of strongly keeled scales; i.e., 



scales with a ridge extending length- 

 The Diamond ,. , , ,. , *~i -, *" , 



wise oi the center ot each, and by the 

 Water Snake. J 



squarish Id-own spots on the back alter- 

 nating with those on the sides and connecting with 

 them at the angles. Several specimens of this snake 

 from southern Indiana are in the State Museum, one 

 of which, from Morgan County, was labeled "Copper- 

 head Trigonocephalus cnnfortrix A poisonous Amer- 

 ican Serpent, called also copperbell and red viper." 



