Snakes' Eggs. 297 



tares forth from his hole to bask ou the south side of 

 the bank. In looking for violets it is not unusual to 

 hear a rustling of the dead leaves that still strew the 

 ground, and to see the pointed tail of a snake being 

 dragged after him under cover. 



In February there are sometimes a few da3-s of 

 warm weather (about the last week) , and a solitary 

 snake ma}" perhaps chance to crawl forth ; but they 

 are not generally' visible till later, and, if it be a cold 

 spring, remain torpid till the wind changes. When 

 the hedges have grown green, and the sun, rising 

 higher in the sky, raises the temperature, even though 

 clouds be passing over, the snakes appear regularly, 

 but even then not till the sun has been up some 

 hours. Later on they ma^' occasional!}' be found 

 coiled up in a circle two together on the bank. 



In the summer some of them appear of great 

 thickness — almost as big round as the wrist. These 

 are the females, and are about to deposit their eggs- 

 The}' may usually be noticed close to cow-3'ards. 

 The cattle in summer graze in the fields and the sheds 

 are empt}' ; but there are large manure heaps over- 

 grown with weeds, and in these the snakes' eggs are 

 left. Rabbits are fond of visiting these cow-yards — 

 many of which are at a distance from the farmstead 

 — and sometimes bring forth a litter there. 



When the mowers have laid the tall grass in swathes 

 snakes are often found on them or under them by the 

 haymakers, whose prongs or forks throw the grass 

 about to expose a large surface to the gun. The 

 haymakers kill them without mercy, and numbers 

 thus meet with their fate. The}' vary very much in 

 size — from eiahteen inches to three feet in length. 



