BY GERAED KREFFT. 59 



be under no farther necessity of catching frogs, grasshoppers, 

 or field-mice during the next season. The burrow of some small 

 rodent, or the hole furnished by a decayed root, is selected and 

 taken possession of until the warm sunshine of spring recalls the 

 sluggish reptile to fresh activity. 



I believe that the Death-adder is found in almost every 

 part of Australia north of 36. The Australian Museum is in 

 possession of specimens from many parts of New South Wales 

 and from various localities in Queensland. The British Museum 

 received this snake from Port Essington and the north-west 

 coast, and I have taken it myself on the Murray and Darling. 

 Its length seldom exceeds 30 inches. A very large specimen 

 measured 2 feet 2 J inches to the vent, and 4| inches to the tail ; 

 total, 2 feet 7 inches ; around the body, 6 inches. 



2. HTDROPHHXE, OR SEA SNAKES. 



PLATURUS. Latr. 



PLATURUS SCUTATUS. Laur. 



The Ringed Sea Snake. 



Scales (front part) 21 to 23 series. 

 Ventrals from 213 to 241. 



Body subcylindrical, of moderate length, shields of the head 

 subnormal in number and arrangement, nostrils lateral, in a single 

 nasal shield, both nasals being separated from each other by a 

 pair of anterior frontals. Scales imbricate, smooth, ventral shields 

 well developed, tail with 2 series of subcaudals (Gthr.) 



Body covered with a series of black rings, 20 to 50 ; crown of 

 the head black, the first and second black mark of the head and 

 neck are joined below by a longitudinal band commencing from 

 the chin ; snout and side of the head yellow, with a black band 

 running through the eye (Gthr). 



This Snake is frequently thrown ashore after stormy weather 

 near Manly Beach, Coogee Bay, Botany, and other localities. Its 

 range is very extensive, and it is common in the Bay of Bengal, 

 the China Seas, and on the Australian and New Zealand coast ; it 

 lives on fishes, and is not much dreaded by the natives of the South 

 Sea Islands who, I am told, handle this snake with impunity. 



