1910.] ON BREEDING OF PINE SNAKES. 539 



the female is in my possession, and that of the male in the pos- 

 session of Mr. Fasey, of Snaresbrook, Essex, undoubtedly belong- 

 to the race recently described by Mr. North. 



The Secretary read the following letter which had been sent 

 him by Mr. George Jennison, of the Zoological Gardens, Belle 

 Vue, Manchester : — 



" We attribute our success in breeding Pine Snakes solely to 

 the provision of a suitable habitat. 



" The adults were turned into our large snake cage in the 

 beginning of June, and evinced such a desire to enter the 

 conservatory, which for purposes of atmosphere forms part of 

 the cage, that we gratified them by making a small hole through 

 which they could pass. 



" Some of the boas show a similar preference for the conser- 

 vatory, but to nothing like the same extent as the Pine Snakes. 



" They revelled in the rank vegetation and speedily disappeared 

 below ground in burrows probably of their own construction. 

 There among the soil, which has a temperature of 90° or so, they 

 perfected their family arrangements. 



" Their success came to us somewhat as a dramatic surprise. 



" On October 18th, a Pine Snake 13 inches long was discovered 

 on the floor of the greenhouse which adjoins the snake cage. 



" It had passed between the slates that form the bed of the 

 conservatory down among the heating pipes where the temperature 

 would be 100° or more, and thence through a well-worn opening 

 about the size of a mouse hole to the place where it was found. 



" Seven or eight snakes were collected during the next few 

 days, several being among the heating pipes. All were very lively 

 and in excellent condition. They were similar in colour and 

 pattern to the parents. 



" Four we put in a cage apart, and the keeper Craythorne says 

 he saw them on several occasions take worms, but they were 

 obviously not doing as well as those left to their oWn resources, 

 so we returned them to the old home where they immediately 

 disappeared under the soil. Burrowing to such an extent, they 

 are rarely seen, but a specimen captured in good condition on 

 March 7th measured 16| inches, a growth of 3| inches in about 

 four months. 



" We have no knowledge of the number of the brood nor one 

 may say of their distribution, as they have been found in good 

 order in our temperate greenhouse twenty yards from their birth- 

 place." 



Mr. Charles Sillem exhibited some living specimens of the 

 Crustacean Chirocephalus diaphanus recently caught in a flooded 

 ditch on Eton Wick Common. 



