42 REPTILES AND BIRDS. 



mischievously ignorant writers, are those of the third of the foregoing 

 sub-orders almost exclusively. Even the broad, flat, and lanceolate 

 form of head is exemplified in certain Tree Snakes of the non-venomous 

 (Mius Dipsas, and not in the Cobras and others that are quite as 

 deadly e.g., Hoplocephalus, Bungarus, Naja, Elaps, and others con- 

 stituting the Colubriform family Elapidcz. 



FIRST SUB-ORDER. 

 Ophidii Cohibriformes (Giinther), Innocuous Snakes. 



These are distributed by Dr. Giinther under numerous families, of 

 which we can only notice the more prominent and some of the more 

 conspicuous species, in a popular exposition. 



The Typlilopidce, or Blind Snakes, comprise forms which are the 

 most remote from the true Ophidian type. They live underground, 

 their rigid body and short curved tail being adapted for burrowing. 

 After showers of rain they occasionally appear above ground, and 

 then they are tolerably agile in their serpentine movements. The 

 eye, which is scarcely visible in many species, can give to them only 

 a general perception of light. They feed on worms and small insects, 

 the tongue being forked, and, as in other Snakes, frequently exserted. 

 They are oviparous. The smallest species of Snakes belong to this 

 family, some of them being only half the size of a common earth- 

 worm, to which they bear a superficial resemblance. Such, indeed, 

 are the small vermiform Snakes already referred to as being foolishly 

 considered venomous by most natives of India. Species of this 

 family inhabit almost every country within and near the tropics. 



The Tortricidcz are akin to the Typhlopidce, and have rudiments 

 of hind limbs hidden in a small groove on each side of the vent, also 

 a longitudinal fold at the chin. The Coral Snake of Demerara 

 (Tortrix scytale] appertains to this family; as also does the genus 

 Cylindrophis, different species of which inhabit the great Asiatic 

 archipelago and the island of Ceylon. 



The family Xenopeltida consists of a single species only, so far as 

 hitherto known, the Xenopeltis unicolor, which is common in the 

 Indo-Chinese and Malayan countries. It grows to three or four feet 

 in length, and when alive is along the back a steel-blue colour, 

 most beautifully iridescent, beneath white; but the blue fades to 

 brown after long immersion in spirits. Young examples have a white 

 collar. Mr. W. Theobald remarks of it that " this snake is common 

 in Lower Pegu and the Tenasserim provinces, and is very malignly 

 beautiful, though of repulsive physiognomy. The skin is loose and 



