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tfee, and turn them towards fucli an expofure, 

 that they are flickered from all the injuries of the 

 air and weather. Nothing can be neater than thefe 

 nefls. The foundation confifts of tiny bits of wood 

 interwoven bafket-wife, and the in fide is lined with 

 I don't know what fort of down, which feems to 

 be filk ; their eggs are of the fize of a pea, with 

 yellow fpots on a black ground. Their common 

 litter is faid to be three and fometimes five. 



Amongft the reptiles of this country, I know of 

 none as yet but the rattle fnake, that merits the 

 lead attention. There are fome of them as thick 

 as a man's leg, and fometimes thicker, and long in 

 proportion ; but there are others, and thofe I be- 

 lieve the greater number, which are neither longer 

 nor thicker than our larger!: fnakes of France • their 

 figure is abundantly odd ; on a neck, which is flat 

 and very broad, they have but a fmali head. Their 

 colour is lively without being dazzling, and a pale 

 yellow, with very beautiful ihades, is the colour 

 which predominates. 



But the moft remarkable part of this animal is its 

 tail ; this is fcaly like a coat of mail, lbmewhat 

 flattifh, and it grows, fay they, every year a row" 

 of fcales ; thus its age may be known by its tail, 

 as that of a horfe is by his teeth ; when he ftirs he 

 makes the fame noife with his tail as the grafhopper 

 does when he leaps or flies for your Grace, no 

 doubt knows, that the pretended mufick of the 

 grafhopper is no more than the noife of his wings. 

 Moreover, the referfcblanee I fpeak of is fo perfect* 

 that 1 have been deceived with it myfelf. It is 

 from this noife, this fort of ferpent has obtained 

 the name it bears. 



0^2 Its 



