1 84 SNAKES. 



not unfrequently takes up its abode in buildings, whence it issues forth at night 

 to capture such prey as it can find. 



It had long been reported by travellers in India that pythons incubated their 

 eggs, and although such reports were received with incredulity, their truth was 

 established in 1841, when an African python in the Jardin des Plantes, Paris, laid 

 fifteen eggs on the 6th of May, which she subsequently proceeded to incubate. 

 When first laid, the eggs, which were completely separate, were soft, oval, and 

 ashy grey, but they soon assumed a rounder form, and a clear white tint, at the 

 same time hardening. The parent collected them into a cone-shaped pile, around 

 which she rolled herself in such a manner as to conceal the whole number, with 

 her head forming the summit of the cone. For upwards of six-and-fifty days this 

 position was maintained without movement, except when persons attempted to 

 touch the eggs. On July the 2nd, the shell of one of the eggs split, revealing a 

 fully-formed python within ; and on the next day the little creature came forth into 

 the world. During the four succeeding days, eight more snakes made their appear- 

 ance, but the rest of the eggs were spoilt* In from ten days to a fortnight the 

 young pythons changed their skins, after which they caught and devoured some 

 live sparrows, seizing and smothering them in the manner in which full-grown 

 individuals destroy prey of larger size. 



species of According to Mr. Boulenger, the number of species of python is 



Python. nine, which may be divided into two groups, according as to whether 

 the number of pairs of shields on the lower surface of the tail exceeds or falls short 

 of fifty. The former group may be further subdivided into two sections, according 

 as to whether the number of scales in a row round the thickest part of the body 

 varies from thirty-nine to sixty, or from sixty-one to ninety-three. The first 

 representative of the former of these subgroups is the Australian diamond-snake 

 (P. spilotis), represented in the illustration on p. 185, which is characterised by the 

 crown of the head being covered with scales or small irregular shields, and the 

 presence of pits on two or three of the upper labial shields of the snout. This 

 snake, which was formerly referred to a genus apart (Morelia), is an inhabitant of 

 New Guinea and Australia, and is of comparatively small size, attaining a total 

 length of only about 6J feet ; its coloration being extremely variable. The variety 

 in which the skin is most spotted was long regarded as a distinct species, under 

 the name of the carpet-snake. The other two members of this group are the 

 amethystine python (P. amethystinus) and the Timor python (P. timorensis), both 

 distinguished by the presence of large symmetrical shields on the crown of the 

 head, and by four upper labial shields being pitted. The former, which grows to 

 a length of about 11 feet, ranges from the Moluccas and Timor to New Guinea, 

 New Ireland, New Britain, and the North of Queensland; while the latter is 

 restricted to the islands of Timor and Flores. The second subgroup, or the one 

 with from sixty-one to ninety-three scales round the body, includes three species, 

 of which the Malayan reticulated python (P. reticulatus) has from sixty-nine to 

 seventy-nine scales in a row, and four upper labials with pits. This species, which 

 ranges from Burma and the Nicobar Islands to the Malayan region and Siam, is 

 one of the largest of the genus, occasionally reaching upwards of 30 feet in length. 

 In colour, it is light yellowish or brown above, ornamented with large circular 



