THE BROWN WOOD-SNAKE. 



139 



living in trees, and darting its lithe fonn from branch to branch with arrow-like celerity, 

 leaping, as it were, from the coiled folds in which it pi'epares itself for the spring, and passing 

 throngh the boughs as if shot from a bow, its glittering scales flashing an emerald or sapphi 

 rine radiance, as it glances through the simbeams. 



The head of the Boiga is long and slender, as beseems the delicate body ; the eye is very 

 full and round, and the gape very wide. The upper part of its body is rich, shining blue, 

 shot with sparkling green ; and three bright, golden stripes run along the body, one travers- 

 ing the spinal line, and another passing along each side. Behind each eye is a bold jetty- 

 black streak, and immediately below the black line runs a stripe of pure white. 



The specific name ought properly to be spelled leiocercus. It is of Greek origin, and 

 signifies smooth-tail, in allusion to the smooth-surfaced scales of the back and tail. 



The family of the Wood-Snakes, or Dryiophidje, as they are learnedly called, contains 

 some interesting and rather cu- 

 rious reptiles. 



The GoLDE?f Tree-Snake, 

 which is a native of Mexico, is a 

 most lovely species, and of a 

 most singular length, looking 

 more like the thong of a "gig 

 whip" than a living reptile. It 

 lives in trees, and in many re- 

 spects resembles the preceding 

 species. It is not so gorgeously 

 decorated as the boiga, but its 

 colors are beautifully soft and 

 delicate. The general tint of 

 this Serpent is gray, tinged with 

 yellow, and having a golden 

 reflection in certain lights, and 

 being decidedly iridescent in 

 others. The body is profusely 

 covered with minute dottings of 

 black. 



The accompanying illustra- 

 tion represents the Langaha, 

 one of the Serpents of Madagas- 

 car, remarkable for the singular 

 appendage to the head. The 

 muzzle is extremely elongated, 

 and is furnished with a fleshy 

 projection, about one-third as 

 long as the head, and covered 

 with small scales. There is an- 

 othei species, the Cock's-comb 

 Langaha {Langaha crisfa-gal- 

 U), also a native of Madagascar, 

 which is known from the ordi- 

 nary species by the form of the 

 appendage, which is toothed 

 something like the comb upon a cock's head. 



LAl^GAHA. — Langaha itasuta. (Two-thirds natural size.) 



The color of the Langaha is reddish-brown. 



A VEKY beautiful example of the Wood-Snakes is found in Ceylon. This is the Brown 

 Wood-Snake {Passerita mycterizans). Like the langaha, the snout of this Serpent is 



