COLUBRINE GROUP. 205 



in that inferior spines are developed only in the vertebrae of the anterior half of 

 the backbone, and are further characterised by the nasal bones being fully as large 

 as the prefrontals. The preceding group are more or less aquatic in their habits, 

 but those of the present assemblage are terrestrial or arboreal. The pigmy snakes 

 have the hinder borders of the shields on the lower surface of the body entire* 

 the front lower teeth larger than the hinder ones, the eyes relatively small, and 

 no internasal or temporal shields on the head. The head is not distinct from the 

 neck, each nostril is pierced in a very small nasal shield, the body is cylindrical 

 with the smooth scales arranged in thirteen rows, and there are two rows of shields 

 on the lower aspect of the tail. 



' These snakes are represented by some thirty species, their headquarters being 

 the islands of Java, Sumatra, and Borneo. The figured species (Calamaria linncei) 

 is from Java. They are all of small size, frequently not exceeding a foot in length : 

 and they are in the habit of hiding themselves among stones, beneath fallen tree- 

 trunks, or in grass. Their small dimensions, together with the relatively narrow 

 cleft of the mouth, and a want of dilatibility in the throat and body, indicate that they 

 do not prey upon other reptiles. Gentle and harmless themselves, these snakes are 

 often attacked and killed by craits and other venomous members of their own tribe. 

 On account of the well-known European smooth snake (Coronella 



Sling-Snakes. 



Icevis) being included among them, we mention as a second genus of 

 this group the sling-snakes, of w^hich there are about twenty known species ranging 

 over Europe, Western Asia, Africa, and America, while one (C. brachyura) occurs in 

 India. They belong to a group of genera in which the whole of the lower teeth are 

 nearly equal in length ; while they are specially distinguished by the presence of 

 from twelve to twenty teeth in the hinder upper jawbone, which increase in size 

 towards the back of the series. The head is short, and scarcely distinct from the 

 neck ; the eye being rather small, with a round pupil, and the head-shields normal. 

 The body is cylindrical, and covered with smooth scales arranged in from fifteen 

 to twenty-five rows, and furnished with pits at their tips ; the tail is of moderate 

 length ; and whereas the shields on the inferior aspect of the body are rounded, 

 those beneath the tail are arranged in a double series. 



The smooth snake, which attains a length of about 25 inches, is very variable 

 in coloration, but the ground-colour of the upper-parts is generally brown. The 

 most distinctive features are a large dark spot on the neck, often extending into 

 a stripe, and two rows of dark brown spots arranged in pairs, and running down 

 the body ; there is also a dark stripe passing through the eye and the side of the 

 neck, while the under-parts are either steely blue, or reddish yellow and white, in 

 some cases spotted with black. This snake is found over the greater part of 

 Europe, and is occasionally met with in some of the southern counties of England. 

 Although now and then found in damp or swampy localities, it frequents dry stony 

 places where there is plenty of sunshine, resorting sometimes to old stone bridges 

 and heaps of building material. Like its congeners, this snake is chiefly terrestrial 

 in its habits ; in disposition it is fierce, and its prey consists of other snakes and 

 lizards. In the end of August or beginning of September the smooth-snake lays 

 from three to thirteen eggs, which are so far developed that the included young 

 almost immediately break the shells and escape. 



