160 REPTILES OF THE WORLD 



surface, like glass. The coloration is variable. Some 

 specimens are blackish with a bright green spot in each 

 scale; others are olive, each scale containing a cluster 

 of yellow dots; on many the dots fuse in the form of 

 longitudinal stripes. 



During several collecting trips in the South, the writer 

 noted a condition pointing to the nocturnal habits of 

 the Glass "Snake." There was a scarcity of specimens 

 abroad during the day. In the early morning, how- 

 ever, we would find them in the wells, where they had 

 evidently tumbled during a nightlj^ search for insects. 

 Because of their stiff, really clumsy motions, they were 

 unable to ascend the rough sides of the shaft, a feat of 

 comparative ease for a serpent. Yet they were able to 

 keep from drowning by thoroughly inflating the lungs. 



The American Glass "Snake" is almost wholly in- 

 sectivorous. In the eastern part of the United States 

 it does not extend farther north than North Carolina; 

 in the Mississippi Valley it ranges northward to south- 

 ern Illinois, thence southward into ISIexico as far as 

 Jalapa. 



In the second group of the Anguidce are species lack- 

 ing the deep fold on the sides. Several genera embrace 

 species with well-developed limbs; others with much 

 aborted members; one includes a snake-like form. Di- 

 ploglossus, of tropical America, contains fifteen species. 

 They look much like big skinks (members of a succeed- 

 ing family — the Scincidce), but may be recognized by 

 the ring-like arrangement of the scales. A few reach 

 a length of two feet. 



The "Blind Worm" or Slow "Worm," Anguis fra- 

 gilis, of Europe, western Asia and Algeria, stands as 

 the most snaky member of the Anguidce. It is entirely 

 devoid of limbs. The body is covered with smooth, 



