598 THE AMERICAN NATURALIST.  [Vot. XXXIII. 
trifling. Black snakes have been described as expert climbers, 
which my captive soon showed me to be true. On the lawn 
stood a fine black oak (Quercus tinctoria), the trunk eight feet 
in circumference, perfectly straight, and for fifteen feet with- 
out a branch. Up this trunk our snake would go, apparently 
preferring it to the smooth lawn as a way of escape. The 
course pursued was always right up one side of the tree, and 
no attempt was made to encircle it. The general direction was 
perpendicular to the ground, the irregular curves of the body 
being comparatively slight. Once clear of the ground, progress 
was very slow; the head and neck were sometimes moved 
deliberately from side to side, presumably in search of a good 
hold. It never moved hurriedly, and there was probably always 
some part of its body not in motion, though this was not always 
apparent. It took close inspection to see that, here and there, 
the edge of a ventral plate was caught on some slight projec- 
tion of the bark, and even then the appearance of the snake 
against the perpendicular trunk of the tree seemed like a 
defiance of the law of gravity. . The muscles were thrown into 
unusual prominence, and constantly changed in appearance 
throughout its length, their contractions showing the effort 
needed to make the ascent. 
Once while I was absent the snake escaped from its box and 
climbed up the smooth stone wall of the house, to a height of 
about thirteen feet, aided only by a few small nails and a 
wooden moulding above the arch of a door. 
In more favorable situations our captive showed that climb- 
ing by black snakes was not necessarily slow and laborious. 
The ease and silence with which it could glide through the 
loose tangle of the vines (Ampelopsis quinquefolia) that cov- 
ered the porch railing was remarkable; and to disentangle it 
from this, or from among the branches of some bushes that 
grew near, was not easy. A single crook of its muscular body 
across a branch made a firm hold, but it never twisted itself 
entirely around a branch. It would make for any hole that 
offered ; the hollow stump of a small tree was a favorite retreat, 
and when even but a short way into this hole it was no easy 
matter to get it out. The body was bent so that it was pressed 
