Reptiles of Massachusetts. 21 
Li 
ORDER Ill. 
——OPHIDIA. 
» £ 
FAMILY. 
& 
SERPENTIA. 
; COLUBER. Lan: 
Generic characters. Body long; cylindrical and 
tapering ; head oblong, covered above with smooth 
polygonal plates; above covered with rhomboidal 
scales, imbricate, reticulated, or carinated, or smooth ; 
abdomen with transverse plates ; beneath the tail, 
with double plates ; anus transverse, simple; jaws 
furnished with sharp teeth; without poisonous fangs. 
Some species oviparous, others ovo-viviparous. 
C. sirtalis. Lin. The striped Snake. 
Shaw’s Gen. Zoology, vol. iii. pt. 2. p. 535. 
Harlan's Med. and Phys. Res. p. 16. 
rd 
This pretty species, generally known as the striped 
snake, is our most common snake. ‘The usual length 
is about two feet ; occasionally it is met with two 
feet and a half long. The upper part of the body 
is of a dark olive brown color. A narrow yellow 
band extends from the occiput to the extremity of 
the tail; on each side of this, joining the abdominal 
; M 
