xni BOIDAE PYTHONINAE BOINAE 6oi 



as the authority for the statement that this species grows to 

 the length of 30 feet. Only two pairs of upper labials are 

 pitted. The general colour above is greyish or yellowish brown 

 with a dorsal series of large reddish-brown, black-edged patches, 

 and on the sides of the body with a series of smaller spots with 

 light centres. On the head is a lance-shaped marking ; a brown 

 stripe passes from the eye backwards. The under parts are 

 yellowish. 



P. sebae and P. regius are African species. The former has 

 two pairs of upper labials pitted, the latter four pairs. P. sebae 

 is generally pale brown above with dark brown, black -edged 

 cross-bars, which are usually connected by a sinuous dark stripe 

 along each side of the back. The upper surface of the tail has a 

 light stripe between two black stripes. The belly is spotted and 

 dotted with dark brown. P. sebae ranges over the whole of 

 Tropical and Southern Africa, perhaps with the exception of 

 Eastern Africa. P. regius of West Africa is beautifully marked, 

 and may be recognised by the dark brown, black-edged band along 

 the back, sending down triangular or Y-shaped processes on the 

 sides, which are pale brown. This dorsal band encloses a light 

 streak on the neck and another on the tail. The belly is 

 yellowish. 



These African Pythons grow to a length of about 15 feet, but 

 specimens so large as this are not often met with. The negroes 

 of certain parts of the coast of Guinea are said to worship them 

 and to keep them in special temples, where they are regularly 

 attended to. Their food consists chiefly of small Mammals, 

 notably rats, and of Birds. A couple of these snakes paired in 

 the Zoological Gardens of London in the month of June. The 

 female laid nearly one hundred eggs in the following January, 

 and incubated them until April, when the embryos were found 

 to be still unripe. 



Sub-Fam. 2. Boinae. Without supra-orbital bones. The 

 premaxilla is toothless. The subcaudal scales form mostly a 

 single row. 



The Boinae comprise between forty and fifty species. Most 

 of them are American, but the genus Eryx inhabits North Africa, 

 Greece, and South-Western Asia ; the genus Enygrus inhabits 

 New Guinea and many of the Pacific Islands, for instance New 

 Britain (Neu Pommern), the Solomon, Loyalty and Fiji Islands, 



