432 



CORALLINE SNAKE. 



Coluber Corallinus. C. glaucus, squamis subcordatis, supra lineis 



tribu-s longitudinalibus fuscis. 

 Glaucous Snake, with subcordated scales, and three brown 



lines down the back. 



Coluber Corallinus. Lin. Syst. Nat. p. 384. 

 Serpens Corallina Amboinensis. Seb. 2. t. 17/. 1. 

 Abdominal scuta 193, subcaudal scales 82. 



LENGTH near three feet: head small, and co- 

 vered with large scales : those on the body small, 

 somewhat heart-shaped, and disposed in longitu- 

 dinal rays or stripes, representing, in some degree, 

 the articulations of Coralline : colour above blue- 

 ish grey, sometimes greenish, with three dusky or 

 fufous longitudinal streaks down the back : tail 

 rather long, and tapering to a slender tip : abdomen 

 pale. This, according to Linnaeus, is a poisonous 

 species : it preys on lizards, &c. In Seba is a re- 

 presentation of the identical specimen afterwards 

 described by Linnaeus*, taken in the act of swal- 

 lowing a lizard, of at least equal diameter with its 

 OM r n body, in consequence of which the jaws are 

 distended in such a manner as to alter entirely the 

 natural appearance of the head, by stretching the 

 lower into a perpendicular direction. It is a na- 

 tive of the eastern regions. 



* Mus. Ad. Frid. p. 33. 



