THE BLACK SNAKE, 229 



all localities that I am familiar with, lying coiled 

 up among the dead leaves that the wind has accumu- 

 lated in the hollows of tree roots, or gliding swiftly- 

 through the herbaceous weeds at the borders of 

 woods. It may often be seen hanging half out of 

 the loose walls so much used as fences, and thus 

 lying in the sunshine, watching motionless for the 

 lizards that likewise frequent such places. I could 

 never see a snake thus circumstanced, familiar as 

 the sight was, without being reminded of the simile 

 of the Prophet Amos, — " As if a man . . . leaned 

 his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him." (Amos 

 V. 19.) It climbs with facility, mounting perpen- 

 dicularly the smooth trunk of a tree, and gliding 

 along the branches, on which it loves to lie in the 

 sun. If alarmed it will sometimes move along 

 the branch, but generally drops to the ground, 

 lowering its foreparts gradually, but very quickly, 



concavity downward. There are 17 rows of scales, arranged in ob- 

 lique lines. Abdominal shields 180; caudal 137 pairs. The form 

 is slender, very gradually tapering ; without any ridge on the back. 

 Colour mentioned in the text. 



The scales are sub-rhomboidal, with rounded tips; they are at- 

 tached to the skin by the whole under surface, so that they cannot be 

 separated without laceration ; they are thin and flexible. Each scale 

 is marked at its posterior extremity with a row of minute depressed 

 points, ordinarily two in number, but on the thick part of the tail, 

 where the scales are broader, four is the common number, though 

 some scales have five, and, more rarely, even six : towards the end of 

 the tail, the number diminishes to two again. No trace of these is 

 found on the shields of either the belly or tail ; and on the lateral 

 ranges of scales they become evanescent. The last scale of the tail 

 is a minute cup or thimble. 



The plates of the head in this species are figured in my " Reptiles,'' 

 page 191, 



