THE COMMON SNAKE. 



97 



The female deposits her eggs in holes fronting the 

 south, near stagnant waters ; but more frequently 

 in dunghills, in the form of a continued chain of 

 ova, to the number of from twelve to twenty. 

 These are about the size of the eggs of the black- 

 bird, of a whitish colour, and covered with a parch- 

 ment-like membrane. The young ones are rolled 

 up spirally within the middle of the fluid, which 

 greatly resembles the white of a fowl's egg. They 

 are not hatched till the spring following the time 

 when they are laid*. 



In winter these Snakes conceal themselves, and 

 become nearly torpid j re-appearing in spring, when 

 they uniformly cast their skins. This is a process 

 that thev also seem to undergo in the autumn. Mr. 

 White says, " About the middle of this month 

 (September) we found in a field, near a hedge, the 

 slough of a large snake, which seemed to have 

 been newly cast. From circumstances it appeared 

 as if turned wrong side outward, and as if it had 

 been drawn off backward like a stocking or wo- 

 man's glove. Not only the whole skin, but the 

 scales, from the very eyes, were peeled off, and 

 appeared in the head of the slough like a pair of 

 spectacles. The reptile, at the time of changing 

 his coat, had entangled himself intricately in the 

 grass and weeds ; so that the friction of the stalks 

 and blades might promote this curious shifting of 

 his exuviae. 



* Shaw's Gen. Zooj. Hi. 

 VOL. III. H 



