THE BOA-CONSTRICTORS. 309 
It is somewhat curious that this is the only species 
which in confinement has ever, to the writer’s knowledge, 
dire&tly attacked other snakes, Accidental cases of the 
swallowing of one boa by another, as recently happened 
in the Zoological Gardens of London, are well known 
to be due to the fa&t of two snakes attempting to 
swallow the same object. Such an attempt will very 
frequently be witnessed among young snakes in general 
when they have not been fed for some time, and in faét, 
almost invariably happens where several specimens are 
kept together. In the cases referred to, however, the 
attack was direct, In one, as reported in this Journal 
(Timehri,. 1887 p. 133), a young boa of three feet in 
length attacked a large yellow-tail (Spzlotes corats) of 
eight feet, and attempted to constriét it, but was even- 
tually defeated and swallowed by the yellow-tail. In 
another, also narrated in this Journal (Z7zmehrz 1890, 
p. 371), young specimens of another boa—the Aboma 
(Epicrates), were attacked ard swallowed, In these 
instances there was no attempt at swallowing the same 
objeét, there being no food in the cage. That the two 
occurrences were unusual, would certainly seem to be the 
case, however, for other land boas have frequently been 
kept with other snakes without any such result. 
In this, as well as in other species, the chief differences 
in habits from those of the anaconda, arise from the 
difference in their habitat. Though the land boas are 
frequently found by the waterside they are. seldom, if 
ever, actually in the water. They secure their prey on 
land, or among the branches of trees, and are as truly 
arboreal as terrestrial The hollow trunks of trees, 
or the sheltered corners between their buttresses, are 
RR 2 
