2573 



SCALED REPTILES 



Moon Snakes 



The pale snakes, or, as they are called in Brazil, the moon snakes, 

 may be taken as our first representatives of the second of this three 

 great parallel series into which the Colubrine family is divided. This back-fanged 

 series, or Opisthoglossa, is characterized by having one or more pairs of the hinder 

 upper teeth longitudinally grooved, and thus capable of acting as poison fangs. 

 Many of these snakes are indeed extremely venomous, their bite being capable of 

 producing death in a few minutes. They are divided into two subfamilies, of which 

 the first, or Dipsadintz, are characterized by the lateral position of the nostrils; and 

 they are either terrestrial or arboreal in their habits, while their distribution is world 

 wide. 



Belonging to the first of the two subfamilies, the moon snakes are character- 

 ized by the slender and somewhat compressed form of the body; the flattened head, 



CROWNED MOON SNAKE. 

 (Two-thirds natural size.) 



which is but imperfectly differentiated from the neck, is broad behind and narrow- 

 in front, although somewhat pointed at the muzzle; the upper jaw projects consid- 

 erably over the lower. The scales, moreover, are smooth; both the anal shield, and 

 the shields on the lower surface of the tail are single; and the eye, as in most of the 

 other members of the subfamily, has the pupil vertical. The few representatives 

 of the moon snakes are confined to South America, the species here figured (Seytale 

 coronatum) being an inhabitant of the eastern side of that continent. In size this 

 snake is comparatively small, measuring only about two feet in length; its distinc- 

 tive characteristic being that on the hinder portion of the body, or anterior part of 

 the tail, the middle row of scales are not greatly enlarged. In young individuals 

 the ground color is red, with a dark brown circular spot on the back of the head,. 



