230 BLUEFIELDS. 



and letting go with the tail last of all. The mode 

 in which Colubrine Snakes (and perhaps others) 

 mount trees is, I think, misunderstood. We see 

 them represented in engravings, as encircling the 

 trunk or branches in spiral coils, but this, though 

 it may do very well for stuifed specimens in a mu- 

 seum, is not the way in which a living Snake mounts 

 a tree. It simply glides up with the whole body 

 extended in a straight line, doubtless clinging by 

 means of the tips of the expanded ribs, as we can 

 see that the body is perceptibly dilated and flattened. 

 In fact a Snake finds no more difficulty in passing 

 swiftly up the vertical trunk of a tree, than in 

 gliding over the ground. I have been astonished 

 to remark how slight a contact is sufiicient for it to 

 maintain its hold. The Black Snake will allow the 

 greatest part of its body to hang down in the air, 

 and thus remain still, while little more than the tail 

 maintains its position by clinging (straight, not spi- 

 rally, and not half round it, but longitudinally along 

 it) to the upper surface of a branch : and it will 

 often pass freely and gracefully from one branch 

 to another at a considerable interval, projecting its 

 head and body with the utmost ease across the in- 

 terval. The motions of a Snake in a tree are beauti- 

 fully easy and free, and convey the impression that 

 the reptile feels quite at home among the branches. 



This is a bold and fierce Snake, often turning 

 when struck and approaching its assailant, with the 

 head erected in a most menacing attitude ; the mouth 

 opened to its widest extent. I have seen one, thus 

 endeavouring to attack, when foiled by being struck. 



