2550 



SCALED REPTILES 



inhabiting the same countries by the relatively-shorter tail, which has only from 

 sixty-four to eighty-two shields on its inferior surface; whereas in the true tree 

 boa (C. hortulanus), and another species, there are at least a hundred of these 

 shields. The species here figured is specially characterized by having the scales 

 arranged in sixty-one or seventy-one rows, and by the number of shields on the 

 under surface of the body ranging from one hundred and eighty-eight to two 



DOG-HEADED TREE BOA. 

 (One-sixth natural size.) 



hundred and nineteen, while those on the tail vary from sixty-four to seventy-nine. 

 In color this snake is decidedly handsome, the upper parts of the adult being bright 

 green, ornamented with irregular spots and crossbars of white, and the under parts 

 bright yellow. In the young the ground color is yellowish, and the white 

 markings are edged with dark green or purplish black. Most abundant in the 

 neighborhood of the Amazons, this species becomes more rare in Guiana, while 



