AUSTRALIAN SNAKES. 3D 



may be 10 feet in lengtli, is of an olive tint, variegated 

 witli irregular markings, which are responsible for the 

 common name of the snake. In both, the under 

 parts are yellow, barred and spotted with black. The 

 Diamond Snake is restricted to a limited area on the 

 East Coast ; bnt the Carpet Snake is found almost 

 throughout Australia. 



On a footpath, a grass plot, or in a museum case, 

 :a Carpet Snake is so striking an object, by reason of 

 its bulk, its sweeping curves and mottled pattern, that a 

 casual observer would regard it as a conspicuous 

 animal, which would everywhere obtrude itself on his 

 attention. Yet, in the recesses of its native forest, that 

 casual observer, and even a sharp-eyed naturalist, might 

 brush against it, or walk over it without noticing it. 

 An experienced collector once related to me how 

 startled he was when searching in the bush, by the 

 sudden apparition, as it seemed, of a huge Carpet 

 Snake a yard away. Not till then had he realised how 

 the mottled marking of the reptile perfectly imitated the 

 litter of grey and brown dead leaves, and how the 

 • curves of the body answered to a fallen limb. 



Black-headed Rock Snake 



Aspidites melanocejiJialus, Krefft. 



S. 49-55, V. .^21-350, A.l, S.C. 60-64. 



North Australia ; length, 8 feet. 



