24 3 SNAKES. 



its habits. Stoliczka states that he found these snakes very common about the 



limestone-hills near Moulmein, where they are exactly of the same green colour as 



the foliage amongst which they hide themselves. He saw small specimens very 



often on low umbelliferous plants growing about a couple of feet high. One of the 



snakes had its tail wound below round the stem of the flower on the top of which 



it was basking. All were very sluggish, and did not make the slightest attempt to 



escape when approached, and even allowed themselves to be removed from the top 



of the plant. Neither did they offer to bite, unless when pressed to the ground 



with a stick ; but when thoroughly aroused, they turned round and bit furiously. 



The rat-tailed pit-viper, or fer-de-lance (T. lanceolatus) is one of several American 



species with nonprehensile pointed tails, whose habits are terrestrial. Reaching a 



length of nearly 7 feet, with a body as thick as a man's arm, this snake is very 



variable in coloration, the ground-colour of the upper-parts being generally a 



reddish yellow-brown. The distinctive markings take the form of a black stripe, 



which is but seldom absent, running from the eye to the neck, and of two rows of 



irregular dark crossbands on the body. In some specimens the sides of the body 



are, however, of a bright red. The form and arrangement of the scales on the 



head, the presence of seven upper labial shields, and the arrangement of the body 



scales in not more than twenty-nine rows, together with the uniformly coloured 



under surface of the body, serve to distinguish the species from its congeners. 



This snake is an inhabitant of the Antilles and Central America. During the 



daytime it lies curled up in repose within the middle of the coils of the body, 



ready to dart out with the rapidity of lightning on the approach of an enemy. 



The mainland of South America is the home of two closely allied 

 Jararaca. , . . 



terrestrial representatives of the genus, respectively known as the 



jararaca {T. jararaca) and the labaria (T. atrox), which are exceedingly difficult to 

 distinguish from one another. The former, which ranges from Amazonia south- 

 wards to San Paulo and westwards to Ecuador and Peru, has eight or nine upper 

 labial shields on the snout, and from twenty-five to twenty-seven rows of scales 

 on the body ; the general colour of the upper-parts being grey or greyish brown, 

 with small dark brown crossbands, bordered by darker edges ; while the under- 

 pays are grey, with two or four irregular longitudinal rows of whitish or yellowish 

 spots. The labaria differs in having only seven upper labials, as well as in certain 

 details of coloration, the back showing dark lozenges alternating with X -shaped 

 markings, while the under-parts are darker, with sometimes two rows of white 

 spots, and from the eye to the corner of the mouth runs a broader dark brown 

 stripe. Inhabiting Eastern Brazil, this species extends as far north as Guiana, 

 while its southward range is less than that of the jararaca. 



Writing of the latter, Bates states that in Brazil it is far more dreaded than 

 the jaguar or the alligator. " The individual seen by Lino lay coiled up at the 

 foot of a tree, and was scarcely distinguishable, on account of the colours of its 

 body being assimilated to those of the fallen leaves. Its hideous, flat, triangular 

 head, connected with the body by a thin neck, was reared and turned towards us ; 

 Frazao killed it with a charge of shot, shattering it completely, and destroying its 

 value as a specimen. In conversing on the subject of jararaca as we walked 

 onwards, every one of the party was ready to swear that this snake attacks man 



