COLUBRINE GROUP. 



199 



feature, the scales of the body overlap one another but very slightly, if at all. 

 The Javan wart-snake, which is the sole representative of the genus, is characterised 

 by the absence of lower shields, by the head being covered with uniform granules, 

 and by the very slight compression of the body. The head is rather short and 

 broad, with the muzzle wider than long, and the small eyes directed forwards ; 

 while the nostrils are placed close together on the tip of the muzzle. The nearly 

 cylindrical tail is short and prehensile. The colour is brown above and yellowish 

 on the sides ; the young having large irregular dark brown spots, which coalesce 

 into bands on the back, and gradually tend to disappear in the adult. In size 

 this snake may measure upwards of 8 feet. It is distributed over the Malay 

 Peninsula, Java, and New Guinea ; and, although it has been stated to be 

 terrestrial, modern observations indicate that it is essentially aquatic, seldom 



JAVAN WART-SNAKE {\ Hat. size 



even leaving the water, and feeding upon fish and frogs. A female in the 

 possession of Cantor gave birth to twenty-seven young ones in less than half 

 an hour, which were active and bit fiercely as soon as they came into the world. 



An allied genus, represented by a single species (Chersydrus granulatus), 

 ranging from Southern India to New Guinea, differs by the marked compression 

 of the body and tail, and thus closely resembles the sea-snakes of the front-fanged 

 series of the family, and likewise resembles them in habits, frequenting the 

 mouths of rivers and the coast from Southern [ndia to New Guinea, and being 

 often found far out at sea. It produces living young, and subsists on fish. A 

 third Oriental genus, likewise known merely by one species (Xenodermus 

 javanicus), has large shields on the under surface. In the other two genera — 

 Stoliczka/ia from India, and Nothopsis from Central America — not only are there 

 lower shields, but the granules on the head are replaced by large shields. 



