GOLDEN TREE-SNAKE. bryiopMs ociimiiuur.. 



LANGAHA. Ldnyaha 



A VERY beautiful example of the Wood-Snakes is found in Ceylon. This is the BEOWN 

 WOOD-SNAKE (Passerita myclvrlzans). Like the langaha, the snout of this Serpent is 

 furnished with an appendage, which is pointed, and covered with scales, and is about one- 

 fourth as long as the head. This appendage is conspicuous, but its use is not very plain. 

 It lives almost wholly in trees, and is nocturnal in its habits, traversing the boughs at 

 night for the purpose of catching the small birds as they sleep, taking their young out of 

 the nest, and preying upon the lizards and geckos which also prowl about the trees by 

 night in search of their insect food. There are two varieties of this beautiful Serpent, one 

 being bright green above, with a yellow stripe down each side, and paler below ; while 

 the other is brown, glossed with purple, and without the yellow stripe. This variety is 

 rare. The length of these Snakes rarely exceeds three feet. 



THE DIPSAS and its congeners may be known from the preceding Snakes, which they 

 :,mch resemble in general form, by the large size of the head compared with the extremely 

 delicate and slender neck. The body, too, is much wider in the centre, causing the neck 

 and tail to appear disproportionately small. This Snake is a native of many parts of Asia. 



