TREE SNAKES. 55 



Of a beautiful green species {Pkilodnjas viridissimiis), apper- 

 taining to the family of Dendrophklce, in Brazil, Dr. Wurcherer 

 writes: — "I am always delighted when I find that another Tree 

 Snake has settled in my garden. You look for a bird's nest, the 

 young ones have gone, but you find their bed occupied by one of 

 these beautiful creatures, which will coil up its body, of two feet 

 in length, within a space not larger than the hollow of your hand. 

 They appear to be always watchful ; for at the instant you dis- 

 cover one, the quick playing of the long, black, forked tongue 

 will shew you that you too are observed. On perceiving 

 the slightest sign of your intention to disturb it, the Snake will 

 dart upwards through the branches and over the leaves, which 

 scarcely appear to bend beneath the weight. A moment more, 

 and you have lost sight of it." Some of the true Whip Snakes 

 attain to six or seven feet in length, or even more ; and with 

 reference to the vague application of vernacular names {vide 

 p. 42), it may here be remarked that the " Little Whip Snake " 

 of the Avistralian colony of Victoria denotes a poisonous Snake 

 of a very difierent family (the Hoplocephalusflagellmn). 



The Dipsadid<je are a numerous family of tropical Tree Snakes, 

 which also have a much compressed body, but short and tri- 

 angular-shaped head, which is broad behind ; the eye large, 

 having generally a vertical pupil. Some of them attain to six or 

 seven feet in length, and all live on warm-blooded animals. It 

 is remarkable that certain of the species prey on birds solel}^ 

 whilst others attack only mammalia. Their coloration varies a 

 good deal, and sj)ecies of them inhabit most tropical and sub- 

 tropical countries. 



The LycodontidxE are an extensive family of small Ground 

 Snakes, inhabiting Africa and tropical Asia, which have the body 

 generally of moderate length, or rather slender, and the head also 

 of moderate length and width, with generally a depressed, flat, 

 and somewhat elonijated muzzle ; maxillarv with a fanff-like 

 tooth in front, but without a posterior grooved tooth. The African 

 species feed on Mice and other small nocturnal mammalia ; while 

 the Indian species (which have a vertical pupil) prey chiefly, if 

 not wholly, on the smaller Scincoid Lizards, which they would 

 appear to follow into the place of their retreat. Lycodon aulicus 



