GREY SNAKE. 371 



by logwood-hedges, and the green slopes studded with 

 clumps of logwood trees, and crowned with neat- 

 looking white buildings, I could have readily imagined 

 that my eye was roving over English ground. 



THE GREY SNAKE. 



For what reason this little Coluber is distinguished 

 above its fellows by a name expressive of peculiar 

 venom, I know not, as it is perfectly inoffensive ; 

 but " Poison Snake" is its creole title. I fiixl from 

 Robinson's MSS. that it was so called in Clarendon 

 parish, also, nearly a hundred years ago ; though, he 

 says, he has had it alive in his hands, and believes it to 

 be a very harmless inoffensive creature. Though not 

 rare, it can scarcely be called abundant, being much 

 less frequently seen than either the Black Snake or 

 the Boa. I have found it scattered in distant and 

 varying localities, in the lowlands and on the moun- 

 tain-tops. It does not affect walls so much as the 

 other Ophidia, but is oftener seen in rocky places, 

 upon the ground, or gliding through dead leaves 

 and dry rubbish by the sides of roads. It sometimes 

 takes up its abode in outhouses, where, lying on one 

 of the beams within, or securing a narrow resting- 

 place on the edge of a board beneath the shingles 

 without, it waits patiently with its head hanging 

 down, but its bright eyes wide awake, for passing 

 prey. That this prey principally consists of the 

 little Anoles and Geckos which always resort to such 

 situations, I have no doubt ; and indeed, I once 

 saw this Snake taking such prey, though in a very 

 different situation. 



