SNAKES AND LIZAEDS FROM QUEENSLAND AND N. T.— LONGMAN. 47 



Giinther mentions (loc. cit.) that this snake grows to a length of 8 feet, 

 and S. S. Flower records that he obtained a specimen from Sapatoom which was 

 6 feet in length. S. S. Flower^ says: ''This snake, when alive and fresh caught, 

 is of immense girth and very powerful, twisting round one's arms with a grasp 

 like that of a python. It seems to be purely aquatic (though Cantor records 

 an exception), frequenting canals and ditches. On land as a rule it is very 

 sluggish, but when aroused will strike suddenly with great force, and can inflict 

 an unpleasant bite, as its teeth are apt to break off in the wound." F. F. Laidlaw 

 notes that the Malays call this reptile "the elephant's trunk snake."" 



On examining oar specimen for entozoa, the remarkable length of the 

 tracheal and true lung was noted, it being extended through the whole body 

 cavity. On reference to literature, the writer finds that this specialisation has 

 already been recorded by J. C. Thompson in his useful contribution to the 

 anatomy of the Ophidia." In the stomach were found remains of elytra of 

 beetles, which Mr. H. Hacker informs me belong to the Dijtiscidce, a family of 

 water beetles. Earlier observers have noted that this species feeds on fruits — a 

 curious characteristic for an ophidian. Cantor stated that a female in his 

 possession brought forth not less than twenty-seven young ones in the course of 

 about twenty- five minutes; they were very active and bit fiercely. 



Beg. No. Q.M. J 15/2384. 



In November, 1915, we received a skin (6 feet 3 inches in length) of this 

 species which had been obtained in the Lukin River, near Ebagoolah, a more 

 northern stream which also flows into the Gulf of Carpentaria. For this snake 

 the Museum was indebted to ]\Ir. H. S. j\tartin. 



The close ally, Chersydrns granulatus, Schneid., which is occasionally 

 found on the North Queensland coast, is a smaller snake.''' Its scales are far 

 less rough, being tuberculated and not strongly spined, and the nostrils are not 

 placed so anteriorly as those of Acrocliordus jnvanicus. 



ASPIDIOTES MELANOCEPHALUS, Krefft. 



From Maneroo Station, near Longreach, a specimen was forwarded to 

 the Museum which extends our knowledge of the dietary of a hungry snake. 

 This consists of the fore part (about 12 inches) of a black-headed python, 

 Aspidiotes melanocephalus, and almost completely engulfed in its enormously 

 extended jaws is the head of a large plain turkey or Australian bustard, 

 Chloriotis australis. As the snake is a comparatively small one, being only about 

 1 inch in diameter, whilst the turkey's head is fully two and a half times that, 

 the bony bulk of the attempted meal will be realised. It seems that one of 

 the men on the station, after shooting a turkey, had cut off its head and thrown 

 it down. Subsequently passing the spot he found the snake lying dead. The 

 specimen was preserved and then donated to the Queensland Museum by 

 ]\Ir. J. Dickson. 



* S. S. Flower. P.Z.S., 1899, p. 658. 



6 r. F. Laidlaw, P.Z.S., 1901 (2), p. 576. 



7 J, C. Thompson, P.Z.S., 1913. p. 414. 



'a Lonnberg and Anderson (Vet.-Ak. Hand] , Stockholm, Bd. 52, No. 7, 1915) note an 

 example of this snake from Cairns as its first Australian record. The Queensland Museum has 

 received a number of specimens, and the snake was recorded for Aiistralia twelve years before 

 by E. R. Waite in vol. v. Records of the Australian Museum. 



ii 



