THE PYTHONS AND BOAS 254; 



with brown. Known in India by the name of adjiga, this python ranges through 

 Peninsular India, Rajputana, and Bengal, to the foot of the Himalayas, and is not 

 uncommon, but in Ceylon, the Malay Peninsula, and Java, it is rare. It does not 

 commonly exceed twelve feet in length. 



The three remaining species of the genus form the second main group, in which 

 there are less than fifty pairs of shields on the lower surface of the tail; the number 

 of shields in a row at the thickest part of the body varying from fifty-three to sixty- 

 three, and neither of the species being of very large size. The best known of the 



AUSTRALIAN DIAMOND SNAKB. 

 (One-eighth natural size.) 



three is the royal python (P. rcgius} of Senegambia and Sierra L,eone, which is 

 generally represented in the collection of the London Zoological Gardens; the other 

 two being the rare Anchieta's python (P. anchietce) of Benguela, and the Suma- 

 tran python (P. curtus), 



The subfamily of the Pythonince is represented by six other genera, 

 Allied Genera . . , , , " . L - . , 



which demand merely a brief reference; the first three of these agree- 

 ing with the typical genus in the presence of teeth in the premaxillary bones, while 

 in the remainder that portion of the upper jaw is toothless. From the pythons the 



