THE BLACK SNAKE. 
229 
all localities that I am familiar with, lying coiled 
up among the dead leaves that the wind has accumu» 
lated in the hollows of tree roots, or gliding swiftly 
through the herbaceous weeds at the borders of 
woods. It may often be seen hanging half out of 
the loose walls so much used as fences, and thus 
lying in the sunshine, watching motionless for the 
lizards that likewise frequent such places. I could 
never see a snake thus circumstanced, familiar as 
the sight was, without being reminded of the simile 
of the Prophet Amos, — ‘‘ As if a man . . . leaned 
his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him.” (Amos 
V. 19.) It climbs with facility, mounting perpen- 
dicularly the smooth trunk of a tree, and gliding 
along the branches, on which it loves to lie in the 
sun. If alarmed it will sometimes move along 
the branch, but generally drops to the ground, 
lowering its foreparts gradually, but very quickly, 
concavity downward. There are 17 rows of scales, arranged in ob= 
lique lines. Abdominal shields 180; caudal 137 pairs. The form 
is slender, very gradually tapering ; without any ridge on the back. 
Colour mentioned in the text. 
The scales are sub-rhomboidal, with rounded tips; they are at- 
tached to the skin by the whole under surface, so that they cannot be 
separated without laceration ; they are thin and flexible. Each scale 
is marked at its posterior extremity with a row of minute depressed 
points, ordinarily two in number, but on the thick part of the tail, 
where the scales are broader, four is the common number, though 
some scales have five, and, more rarely, even six ; towards the end of 
the tail, the number diminishes to two again. No trace of these is 
found on the shields of either the belly or tail ; and on the lateral 
ranges of scales they become evanescent. The last scale of the tail 
is a minute cup or thimble. 
The plates of the head in this species are figured in my “ Reptiles,” 
page 191. 
