58 . OUR REPTILES. 



according to Schlegel, the female brings forth 

 living young. He says, " The eggs take three 

 or four months to hatch inside the mother, and 

 in the end of August she brings forth about 

 twelve young, which are at first altogether 

 white. " This latter point was definitely set at 

 rest by the fact of a snake of this species, caught 

 in the New Forest, giving birth to six young ones 

 whilst in confinement. Mr. Buckland gave a 

 full account, at the time, of the circumstances 

 connected with the history of this reptile progeny/ 

 " The old mother snake is coiled up in a graceful 

 combination of circles, her little family are nestled 

 together on her back ; they have twisted their 

 tiny bodies together into a shape somewhat re- 

 sembling a double figure of 8, and there they 

 lie basking at their ease in the mid-day sun. 

 The old mother is vibrating her forked tongue at 

 me ; the little ones are imitating their mother's 

 actions, and are vibrating their tiny tongues 

 also; the mamma's head is most beautifully 

 iridescent in the sun, and her babies are in this 

 respect nearly as pretty as their mother. They 

 are about five inches long, about as thick as a 

 small goose- quill, and smoother than the finest 

 velvet. Their eyes are like their mother's, their 

 tails are unlike their mother's ; she has lost the 

 tip of her tail her young ones have not, they 

 are tapered off to a point as sharp as a pin. 



