OF THE UNITED STATES 133 



snake of a more certain chance of getting its food and sustaining 

 life. 



There is one other representative of this genus of snakes with 

 us, closely resembling C.rernalisin form and size, but is of a bright 

 bluish-green color, instead of being green; and, be it said here, it 

 is truly remarkable how well eA'en this tint protects the creature 

 in many situations in its natural haunts. I saw this especially 

 among the bayous of low r er Louisiana, where this snake is fre- 

 quently to be observed among the stalks of a species of pond lily 

 that are likewise of a bluish-green tint, and for one of which it 

 can easily be mistaken. Cyclophis (estiva is the name science has 

 bestowed upon this species, and its delicate scales are longitudi- 

 nally keeled or carinated, instead of being smooth, as in C. vernalis. 

 In this connection -it will be remembered by many how w r ell the 

 coloration of the various species of Rattlesnakes and Moccasins 

 protects them by closely matching the compositions of their par- 

 ticular environments. Among the bogs and fens found in cer- 

 tain localities about Washington, D. (\, I found, during May, 

 1S<)(>, many of the young of the common Water Snake (Xatrix si- 

 licdon), and these little dusky colored fellows often so closely re- 

 sembled in shade the blackish mud over which they cautiously 

 moved as to nearly escape my keenest observation. In Fig. 35 

 will be seen the reproducticn of a photograph I made last spring 

 of the young of this very species. He was coiled up upon the 

 dark earth, where grew several species of ferns and other swamp 

 plants; and where lay dead twigs and leaves, dark and stained by 

 partial or complete decomposition. His form was hardly to be 

 noticed amid such growths and debris, as it could easily be mis- 

 taken for some twisted and water-soaked root coiled up there. 

 Indeed, I did not notice him until he began to take himself off. 



IJeddard speaks of the protection in snakes often being due to 

 the multiplicity of surrounding objects, and says when " a con- 

 jurer intends to surprise his audience by the production of an ob- 

 ject from some unsuspected quarter, he places it beforehand, 

 with no attempt at concealment, upon the table, which is gener- 

 ally covered with various mysterious objects not meant in the 

 least for use. It is concealed until the right moment among a 

 multitude of objects, some more, some less like it. Every one 

 knows from experience how difficult it is to find an object which 

 has fallen upon a carpet with a complicated pattern. We find 

 exactly the same principle in nature," 



