326 



NATURAL HISTORY. 



FAMILY DENDROPHID^E. THE TREE SNAKES. 



These Snakes are diurnal in their habits, living in trees, and are extremely active climbers and 

 movers amongst the boughs, and their colours, often vivid, assimilate with the surrounding foliage. 

 They are found in all the tropical regions, and feed principally on Tree Lizards. The body and tail 

 are much compressed, or are very slender and elongate, and the head is distinct from the neck, and 

 has a longish snout and wide gape. 



FAMILY PSAMMOPHIDJE. THE DESERT SNAKES. 



These have a longish body and tail, sometimes stout and rounded, and the head, very distinct from 

 the neck, is narrow or thick, and the loreal region is veiy concave. The scales are smooth, the nostril 



*""" DIPSAS DENDHOPHILA. 



is lateral, and the eye is of moderate size. One of the four or five anterior maxillary teeth is longer 

 than the others, and the last is grooved. They are more common in tropical Africa than elsewhere, 

 and some are slender, others being stout. They frequent plains, and live on the ground. There 

 is one Indian species,* and it reaches forty inches in length. Mr. Jerdon noticed one which had 

 killed and was swallowing a small Vipera Echis, and remarks that this is, perhaps, the only instance 

 ever heard of in which a non-venomo\is Snake overpowered a venomous species. Another, belonging 



>:J Psammophis condanarus. 



