ZOOLOGICAL SOCIK'iV HLLLKTIN 



damp sphagnum* mi)». A 

 fine cobra from the southern 

 portion of the Indian penin- 

 sula deposited twenty perfectly 

 smooth, tough-shelled, cream- 

 white eggs. These were one 

 and one-quarter inches long 

 and seven-eighths of an inch 

 in diameter. They were at 

 once taken from the cage, 

 placed on a layer of damj) 

 sphagnum moss in a large 

 tray, then covered with a layer 

 of the same material four 

 inches in depth. The tray was 

 hung in a room where the 

 temperature averaged qo° 

 Fahrenheit. Each day the in- 

 cubating medium was moistened and the eggs 

 examined, .\bout fifty per cent of them proved 

 fertile and, as they absorbed the moisture, grew 

 slowly in size, assuming more spherical outlines. 

 Those eggs that showed infertility were removed, 

 owing to the danger of infectious mould. At the 

 e.xpiration of si.x weeks the tray was suspended 

 within a gauze bag and the arrival of the young 

 snakes awaited. In about eight weeks the young 

 snakes attained their |)erfecl (levelo])ment, and 

 were then ten inches long. 



.\nother interesting record is the hatcliing nt 

 Coral Snakes in the Reptile House. Our south- 

 eastern species (Elaps jiilviNs) belongs to the same 

 subfamily as the Cobra, but knowledge of its breed- 

 ing habits is exceedingly meagre. Until last year 

 etTorts to procure the eggs of this species were quite 

 without success. A small specimen finally de- 

 posited eleven eggs, which were placed in finely 

 ground wood-pulp. Though these eggs were kept 

 moist and warm, they required the lengthy period 

 of thirteen weeks for incubation. The young were 

 marked like the parent, but the scarlet, yellow and 

 black rings were more brilliant. Comjxired with 

 the latter, their brilliant, lustrous colors made them 

 appear as if freshly squeezed from a paint tube. In 

 form they were considerably more slender than the 

 adult specimen, and dug like earthworms into the 

 hatching medium. 



Many species of the non-venomous snakes have 

 bred in the Reptile House. Among these serpents 

 have been both the oviparous — egg-laying — and the 

 viviparous, those producing living young. Of 

 the former, a Rainbow Snake (Abaslor erythro- 

 grammiis) deposited forty-four eggs, and of this 

 lot all but one were hatched. The eggs of this 

 little known species are proportionately small when 

 deposited, but as they absorb moisture during in- 

 cubation, they rapidly increase in size. Imme- 

 diately before hatching, some of them were two 

 and a half times their original size. 



ilMINI 111- I HI-. lu\ >.\AKi;, (( Ol.l liKK 

 .\ freshly laid egg and one ready to hatch. 



VL 1.1'IMS). 



Among the harmless viviparous snakes large 

 broods of young are the rule. One Striped Snake 

 {Eutcntia sirlalis) gave birth to fifty-seven young. 

 During last fall alone, several thousand striped 

 snakes were born in the building. With so many 

 young snakes, we are always looking for freak 

 s]jecimens, and it is not unusual to find a perfect 

 albino or, more rarely, a specimen with two heads 

 and necks on one body. Five of the latter were 

 l)orn in 1905. Such examples seldom feed, and live 

 oniv a few da vs. r. l. d. 



Two hawk>bill turtles, which are much larger 

 and handsomer than any that have been received 

 heretofore, were jjresented to the .\quarium by 

 William Curry's Sons, of Key West, Fla. The 

 larger one weighs sixty pounds, and its carapace 

 (upper shell) measures twenty-six inches in length; 

 and the other weighs fifty pounds, its carapace 

 measuring twenty-four inches. 



These turtles are seven or eight years old, and 

 with several others of the same species were raised 

 in ca])tivity in a small salt-water pond into which 

 the tide ebbed and flowed. They were placed in 

 the pond when quite small — weighing ]>crhaps three 

 jwunds — and fed on sea-weed, garden i)lants, clams, 

 conchs, crabs, and chopped fish. This is interest- 

 ing as showing how well the hawksbill lives in cap- 

 tivity, at least in its own climate. 



The hawksbill, so named on account of the shape 

 of its beak, and also known as "tortoise-shell 

 turtle," furnishes the valuable "tortoise-shell" of 

 commerce. .\ few years ago the yield of "tortoise- 

 shell " in southern Florida was valued at $1,500 to 

 $1,700 per annum, but the amount now annually 

 taken is small. 



The hawksljill inhabits the tropical .Atlantic, and 

 is common as far north as Florida and the Ber- 

 mudas. .\ similar species is found in the tropical 

 Pacific. c. H. T. 



