SNAKES OF FICTION AND OF FACT. 55 



Slender and active, the harmless kinds skim among the 

 branches, which scarcely bend beneath their weight. ]\Iany 

 of them have small and peculiarly arranged ventral shields, 

 not requiring to hold on in progression ; many also have 

 long prehensile tails, which wind and cling while the little 

 acrobats swing to and fro, or hang down to take a young 

 bird or an egg out of the nest. The poisonous kinds of tree 

 snakes abound in India, have a thick body, broad head, and 

 a dull, sluggish habit, but still are handsome as to colour, 

 and mostly green. They hide in the trunks of trees, or in 

 the hollow forks of the branches, and rarely venture upon 

 the ground. Some, however, live only in bushy foliage 

 low-er down, while other arboreal species frequent the highest 

 branches, where, moving with amazing celerity, they are as 

 much at home as the feathered inhabitants. 



(4) Fresh- Water S?iakes are especially adapted for an 

 aquatic existence, and have their nostrils on the top of 

 the snout, to enable them to breathe easily when in the 

 water. Some of them can hold on to weeds or other things 

 by their tails. They swim and dive, and are as active as 

 eels. None are very large, and all are harmless. But a 

 good many of the second group that are poisonous, spend so 

 much of their time in the water that they are know^n as ' water 

 vipers,' ' water moccasins,' etc., though not truly water snakes. 



(5) Sea Snakes. — All highly venomous. These, as also 

 the fresh-water snakes, are treated fully In chapters xiii. 

 and xiv. The five divisions assist the student towards 

 grasping an idea of the principal groups, but the whole 

 five pass into each other by intermediate forms and im- 

 perceptible degrees. 



