GREY SNAKE. 373 



the position of the Lizard sufficiently marked by the 

 swollen and lumpy neck. 



Robinson in his MSS. mentions his having found 

 in the belly of one of these Snakes about fifteen 

 inches long, *' three inches of a Jack Lizard's* tail," 

 and, by the dissolved substance, concluded that the 

 Lizard had been swallowed whole, expressing won- 

 der, when he reflected that the Lizard was twice the 

 thickness of the Snake at least. This, however, is 

 now well known to be nothing uncommon in the 

 serpent tribes.-j- 



* 1 believe he designates the Purple-tailed Anolis by this appel- 

 lation. 



f I would describe the Grey Snake as follows : — Matrix capi- 

 strata, mihi. Scales sub-rhomboidal, imbricate, convex, and perfectly 

 smooth, without any depressed points. Tail in young specimens, 

 about one fifth of the total length ; in adults about two fifths. Head 

 long-oval, somewhat tapering in front. Body nearly cylindrical, not 

 elevated in the mesial line ; gently swelling to about the middle of 

 the total length. Seventeen rows of scales, running very obliquely. 

 Labial plates eight, of which the fourth and fifth form the lower wall 

 of the orbit ; they increase in size to the sixth, thence diminish. In 

 the form of the crown-plates, in the form and situation of the teeth, 

 and in the dimensions and direction of the gape, this species agrees 

 with the Black Snake (Natrix atra). Abdominal shields from 170 

 to 176; caudal (according to my own observations) from 127 to 159 

 pairs ; the higher numbers the more common. 



This species is less than the Black Snake, and more elegant. The 

 largest I have measured was twenty-six inches in length, of which the 

 tail was ten. Colour of the upper parts uniform yellowish grey ; 

 the belly shields rather yellower ; the whole marked with minute 

 black specks. Each scale and shield has a pale border, scarcely ob- 

 servable, except with a lens. A black line runs from the muzzle 

 through the eye as far as the gape, below which line the face is cream- 

 white. Another black line passes between the two occipital plates. 

 The skin between the scales seems mottled with black and white ; so 



