43 



Two kinds have yellow bellies. 

 Habitat — May occur in Burma and parts of India, but 

 would seem to be rare in these places. 



Nothing is known about the poison of the coral 

 snakes. '-I'hey are so small and the gape of 

 the mouth is so limited, that it is very doubt- 

 ful if they would do any harm to a man. 



SEA-SNAKES {Hydrophiivce\ 



A sea-snake can always be recognised by the 

 fact that the tail is compressed, i.e., flattened 

 out to form a vertical fin like that of an eel. 



The head is covered with large shields. 



Sea-snakes are reputed very deadly and the 

 poison of the commonest is eight times as 

 powerful as that of a cobra. 



GROUP IV. — Snakes with broad ventrals 



AND SCALY (nOT SHIELDED) HEADS. 



This group consists of the vipers and the vipers 



only. 

 There are two kinds of vipers, viz., the pit -vipers 



and the pitless vipers. 

 The former have a deep pit between the eye 



and the nostrils, called the lorecd pit. No 



other snakes have this pit, so a pit-viper is 



easily recognised. 



The Pitless Vipers. 

 THE SAW-SCaLED VIPEK {Echis carinata). * 

 Length — One to one and a half feet ; tail one-twelfth. 



* Also called P/ioorsa, Kupper aud other local names. 



