2546 SCALED REPTILES 



The variety in which the skin is most spotted was long regarded as a distinct 

 species, under the name of the carpet snake. The other two members of this group 

 are the amethystine python (P. amethystinus) and the Timor python (P. timor- 

 ensz's) , both distinguished by the presence of large symmetrical shields on the crown 

 of the head, and. by four upper labial shields being pitted. The former, which 

 grows to a length of about eleven feet, ranges from the Moluccas and Timor to New 

 Guinea, New Ireland, New Britain, and the north of Queensland; while the latter 

 is restricted to the islands of Timor and Flores. The second subgroup, or the one 

 with from sixty-one to ninety-three scales round the body, includes three species, of 

 which the Malayan reticulated python (P. reticulatus) has from sixty-nine to 

 seventy-nine scales in a row, and four upper labials with pits. This species, which 

 ranges from Burma and the Nicobar islands to the Malayan region and Siam, is one 

 of the largest of the genus, occasionally reaching upward of thirty feet in length. 

 In color, it is light yellowish or brown above, ornamented with large circular 

 rhomboidal, or X-shaped dark markings; the head has a median black line, and the 

 under parts are yellowish, with small brown spots on the sides. It is, however, 

 subject to considerable variation, a specimen from Siam in the London Zoological 

 Gardens showing bright yellow lines on the sides. Young specimens show three 

 longitudinal rows of light spots with black edges along the back. Somewhat 

 smaller is the African python (/*. sebci), of tropical and South Africa, which at- 

 tains a length of about twenty-three feet, and has from eighty-one to ninety-three 

 scales in a row on the thickest part of the body, and only two of the labial shields 

 pitted. This species occurs typically in West Africa, from which region came the 

 specimen represented in the illustration on p. 2545 in the act of swallowing a bird; 

 and it was long considered that the South- African python or Natal rock snake was 

 a distinct species. Its color is pale brown above, with dark brown, black-edged, 

 and more or less wavy crossbars, usually connected by an interrupted or continuous 

 dark stripe running along each side of the back; the sides are marked with large 

 black spots and small dots. On the top of the head is a large triangular dark 

 brown blotch, which is bordered on each side by a light stripe commencing above 

 the nostril at the end of the muzzle, and passing above the eye; and there is a dark 

 stripe on each side of the head, and a somewhat triangular blotch beneath each eye. 

 The upper surface of the tail has a longitudinal light stripe bordered on each side 

 by a dark one, and the under parts are spotted and dotted with dark brown. In 

 India, Ceylon, the south of China, the Malay Peninsula, and Java, the last-named 

 species is replaced by the Indian python (P. molurus), represented in the illustra- 

 tion on p. 2543 in the act of strangling a chevrotain. While agreeing with the last 

 in having only two of the labial shields pitted, it differs in having from sixty-one to 

 seventy-five scales in a row, and likewise in that the rostral shield is broader than 

 long, instead of with these two diameters equal. In color, this python is grayish 

 brown or yellowish above, with a series of large elongated squared reddish-brown 

 black-edged spots down the middle of the back, flanked by a series of smaller ones. 

 The head and nape of the neck have a spear-shaped brown mark, and a brown band 

 runs on each side of the head through the eye, while there is a vertical one of this 

 color beneath the latter. The under parts are yellowish, with the sides spotted 



