30 SNAKES OF CEYLON. 



Genus RHINOPHIS. 



(Greek " rhis " nose. " ophis " snake, referring to the 

 pointed snout.) 



General Characters. — Small snakes mostly about 1 foot, 

 some nearly 2 feet in length. Head very small. Snout more 

 or less acutely pointed. Eye small to very small, situated in 

 an ocular shield. Nostril pierced in the antero-inferior 

 quadrant of an entire nasal shield. Chin with no mental 

 groove. Neck and fore body swollen and knuckled. Body 

 cyhndrical, short, moderate, or elongate. Belly rounded. 

 Tail very short, obtusely conical. 



Identification. — Easily recognized by the pecuUar enlarged 

 shield at the end of the tail, which is rough from minute 

 spinose processes. (See fig. 13.) 



Habits. — All are earth burrowers living beneath the soil. 

 The acutely-pointed snout is not specially adapted for burrow- 

 ing, and it is therefore only in loose soil that it can effect 

 progression. The swollen neck and fore body are due to a 

 remarkable muscular development, by which the snake is 

 enabled to push its way through the soil. They are all 

 extremely defenceless reptiles that fall an easy prey to rap- 

 torial mammals and birds and other snakes of ophiophagous 

 habits. They never attempt to bite, no matter how great the 

 provocation. 



Food. — All those whose diet has been ascertained feed on 

 earthworms and they eat voraciously. Hardly a s;^ecimen is 

 found that has not fragments of worms in the stomach, and 

 none without the intestinal tract loaded with semi-liquid mud 

 derived from the worms upon which they subsist. 



Breeding. — All whose habits are known are viviparous, and 

 they are not prolific, usually producing from two to six young 

 at a time. 



Lepidosis. — Rostral : Usually more or less compressed, 

 sometimes keeled above. Nasals Completely separated 

 by the rostral ; touching the 1st and 2nd supralabials. 

 Prsefrontals : Touching the 2nd and 3rd supralabials. 



