SNAKES. 



21 



the 



Cobra group 

 Fig. 19. 



lower spines of the neck-vertebrae pierce the gullet, on the upper 

 surface of which they form tooth-like knobs adapted for crushing 

 the eggs on which this Snake feeds. An individual of a foot in 

 length is capable of swallowing a pigeon's egg. 



Sea-Snakes {Hydrophiina', 308-313) and 

 {Ekipince) form the assemblage of venomous 

 Colubridce known as Proteroglypha (see p. 18), 

 and characterised by the grooving of the front 

 teeth in the maxillary bone, while those behind 

 are solid. In this respect they differ from the 

 Opisthoglypha, in which the reverse condition 

 obtains, Sea-Snakes (fig. 19), of which there are 

 several genera, have the tail, and sometimes the 

 body, compressed, for the purpose of swimming. 

 The scales are small, those on the lower surface 

 being often no larger than the rest ; and the 

 pupils of the small eyes are round. These 

 Snakes inhabit tropical seas from the Persian 

 Gulf to Central America, but one species {Distira 

 semperi) dwells in a fresh-water lake in the 

 Philippines. They are often seen far out at sea, 

 and die if kept long on land. All are viviparous, 

 and feed on fishes, which are killed with their 

 poison, Indian fishermen are occasionally bitten 

 by these Snakes, the bite sometimes proving 

 fatal. The largest species is the orange and 

 black Hydrns major (308), of which an example is 

 shown. Most of these snakes are coloured very 

 like mackerel in order to render them invisible 

 in the sea. 



The Cobras and Kraits of the Old World, 

 together with the species of the American genus 

 Elaps, represent the Elapinoi, or second sub- 

 family of the group Proteroglypha, which is 

 distinguished from the Hydrophiina^ by the 

 cylindrical tail. There are numerous genera of 

 Elapince ; and the sub-family includes the majority of Australian 

 Snakes and all the venomous ones. The various species of Cobras 

 (an abbreviation of cobra di capello — ^"the snake with the hood") 

 are characterised by the power of inflating the neck into a 

 hood-like expansion by an outward and forward movement of the 



A Sea-Snake {Hydro- 

 phisplahirus) from 

 the Indian Ocean. 



(No. 312.) 



Cases 

 14-15. 



