16 GUIDE TO REPTILES AND AMPHIBIANS. 



skull the quadrate-bone is supported by the horizontally extended 

 squamosal, which rests loosely on the side of the occipital region. 

 'Teeth are carried in the lower jaw, and on the pterygoid, palatine, 

 and maxillary bones of the skull ; while in some of the Pythons 

 {Pythonince), as distinct from the Boas {Boime), they are also borne 

 on the premaxillge. In the Boas there is a pair of supra-orbital 

 bones, which are wanting in the Pythons, and the scales on the 

 under side of the tail generally form a single (instead of a double) 

 row. None of the members of this family are poisonous. The 

 larger kinds inhabit forests, where they climb trees by the aid of the 

 short and partially prehensile tail. They feed by choice on warm- 

 blooded animals, the bodies of which they crush in their coils before 

 swallowing them. Although a large Python could crush an animal 

 as large as a red deer, it is quite evident that it could not swallow 

 the carcase. The bodies of small deer are reduced by crushing 

 to the condition of a sausage before being swallowed. Most 

 Pythons lay masses of eggs, which the female protects by coiling 

 herself upon them. 



Two magnificent specimens of the Malay Python {Python 

 reticulatus, 291) are exhibited, one measuring 24 feet 11 inches 

 in length. Among the smaller species, mention may be made of the 

 Australian Carpet-Snake, or Diamond-snake {P. spiJotes, 288, fig- 14). 



Fig. 14. 



Australian Carpet-Snake (Python spilotes). (No. 288-) 



The Boa constrictor (300) is an example of a genus common to 

 Tropical America and Madagascar. Specimens of part of the skin 



