THE HABITS OF MALAY REPTILES, 195 
eating snakes chiefly work by day. Most snakes are colored 
t concealment, and inhabit spots suited for their coloring. 
e green viper ( Lachesis Wagleri) sits usually about 4 or 5 feet 
et in a bush, in a sunny spot, where its blue-black, green and 
yellow mottling is matched by the spots of light and shade on 
the bright green leaves. The python, span, ‘with its light and 
dark brown carpet pattern, resting amon ead leaves, or in 
the hollow of a tree, is equally ноос сани ; even poisonous 
Elaps bivirgatus, with its scarlet head and tail and deep 
body, is wonlerfully invisible in the shadows of the woods, but 
when in danger it exhibits its brilliant coloring as plainly as it 
can, in order to warn the enemy that it is venomous, and can 
give a fatal bite if it chooses. Cal/ophis is another genus of poi- 
oes not trust to its warning colors onl y, but beats its tail quick- 
ly on the dead leaves, making a rattling sound. A terrier which 
sn to rattle its tail, 
and went away, evidently understanding the signal. Bungarus 
again, a larg s bla ellow snake, makes 
Snakes, like many of our wild anim чөн know very 
well the sesa pani ої motion, and when crossing an open space 
such аз а road, where they are visible from some distance, 
, 
ey remain ;, Being alar for some time, in the hope that they 
may be taken for a root or piece of s ave seen a ter- 
ri 
over one lying on the path, mistaking it for a stick. Had it 
moved, she would have immediately killed it 
are no less t ne hundred ee ten kinds of snakes 
recorded as occurring in de peninsula, and more than half of 
