10 

 Group III. — Snakes with broad ventrals and 



NORMALLY SHIELDED HEADS. 



In these the belly Is covered with transverse shields 

 stretching right across the body so that only part of the last 

 row of scales can be seen on either side when the creature lies 

 on its back (Figs. 4 and 5) and the head has normal shields 

 as described in Chapter III. 



This group contains both harmless and poisonous snakes, 

 so that we may divide the group into two sub-groups, viz: — 



Sub-Group A. — Harmless. 



Sub-Group B. — Poisonous. 



The majority of snakes fall into this group. 



Group IV. — Snakes with broad ventrals 



AND SCALY HEADS. 



The ventrals of snakes in this group are identical with 

 those in the last but the crown of the head is covered with 

 scales instead of the normal shields (Fig. 9). These scales 

 are similar to those on the back of the snake. 



The snakes in this group are all poisonous. 



CHAPTER V. 



EULL DESCtilPTlON OF THE COMMON SNAKES. 



In this chapter every common snake is fully described. 

 The snakes are arranged in the four groups. 



The details in this chapter need not be studied very 

 carefully. The chapter is meant chiefly for reference when 

 identifying a particular specimen. 



