io8 REPTILES AND BATRACHIANS 



some hours later, and by the following incident related by 

 Mr. G. Abercromby. " I had flung a dead rat into the 

 cage and was moving it about with a bamboo stick, which 

 I afterwards placed near the snake's head. The latter saw 

 something moving and smelt the rat, so it straightway 

 seized hold of the bamboo rod, which it eventually pro- 

 ceeded to swallow. After it had got about two feet of 

 the stick down its throat it discovered its mistake, and 

 disgorged it." The snake in question was a half-grown 

 Indian Python. 



Although sometimes indifferent feeders, snakes always 

 drink much, the water being drawn into the mouth, and 

 not lapped up with the tongue, as in the case of most 

 lizards. 



Snakes frequently harmonize with their surroundings, 

 many of the Tree Snakes, for instance, being green, while 

 desert species are often light brown or pale yellow ; some, 

 however, are ornamented with the most conspicuous 

 markings, which are sometimes considered to be " warning 

 colours." The fact that some perfectly harmless snakes 

 are often very similar in their markings to the poisonous 

 species has been explained as the result of mimicry, these 

 harmless creatures deriving benefit from their resemblance 

 to the more dreaded kind. The coloration varies greatly 

 individually, or according to the age of the animal, the 

 newly born young being sometimes entirely different 

 in their ornamentation, or even coloration, to their 

 parents. 



Some snakes lay eggs, which have a tough, parchment- 

 like shell ; others retain them within the body until 

 the young are fully developed. The eggs, which are 



