[AS. snaca, creeper.] A creeping reptile, whose gliding motion is due to having the vertebrae jointed with ball-and-socket joints. On each vertebra is a pair of ribs which are used as legs, working the snake backwards and forwards ; and its scales are used as feet, catching the ground and pulling or pushing the whole body. Its jaws are joined by an elastic gristle, so that they can be spread wide ; and its tongue darts far out beyond its lips, touching or feeling. Its teeth are not used for chewing but for holding and swallowing its prey. There are the black snake, blind snake, garter snake, green snake, ring snake, rock snake, milk snake, water snake, and dwarf snake, and various venomous snakes, such as the rattlesnake and the copperhead. The python is sometimes 30 feet long, and the female incubates her eggs. (See Boa, Cobra, Rattlesnake, Serpent.) - Snake-bird or darter is a kind of gannet with a snake-like neck.

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