362 



LOWER VERTEBRATES. 



A large number of the smaller serpents are united under the name Calamaeid^, 

 or dwarf-snakes. The members of this group are found in nearly every country of the 

 globe, living beneath stones and prostrate logs. Their diminutive size and nondisten- 

 sible neck compels them to restrict their diet to such small grubs and worms as they 

 can easily master and swallow ; while they are thus employing themselves they not 

 infrequently become the prey of some larger foraging reptile. The genus Calamaria 

 which is only found in the East Indies, has the labial plates reduced to four or five. 

 Though there are several species, they resemble each other so closely that they can be 

 classified only after considerable trouble. The Elapes are their particular enemies. 

 The genus Geophis is represented in America by four species, all of which inhabit 

 Mexico, where are also found the genera Ficimia, Cheilorhina, Stenorhina and Tan- 

 tilla. Virginia striatula is a little snake found in the south, from Virginia to Texas. 



Fig. 214. — Calamaria atbiventer. 



It is a modest and most inoffensive reptile ; its reddish-brown back and salmon-colored 

 inferior surface form a combination far too pleasing to be hid away, as it too often is, 

 beneath the bark of some old dead tree or log. 



The genus Carphophis is very generally disti-ib'uted ; in the United States, the 

 species amcena, inhabiting the more eastern and northern portions, as the thunder, 

 ground, or worm-snake, is most familiar. In its habits it is nocturnal and sub-terres- 

 trial, being much more often turned up by the plough, or brought to light by the hoe, 

 than seen naturally on the surface. It, moreover, always seeks escape by burrowing, 

 rather than by flight ; indeed, the animal's motions, when out of its element, are most 

 awkward. In general coloration it resembles the previous species. The East Indian 

 Oligodorus belong to this family, and are characterized by the absence of palatine 

 teeth, and by their peculiar physiognomy, the head being short and blunt. Closely 

 resembling the Oligodorus, externally, are the members of the genus Simotes, which, 



