SCALED REPTILES— SNAKES. 



425 



that about ten years ago, while shooting in the jungle, I came upon a fine 

 specimen of the snake in question over 12^ feet long, and, after an exciting 

 chase, succeeded in capturing it alive and uninjured. I kept it in captivity 

 for some months at Castle Rock in a large case, giving an occasional exercise 

 in the spare room of my bungalow, and eventually took it to England for the 

 reptile-house at the Zoological Gardens. At Brindisi I had to leave the snake 

 to complete its journey by steamer to London, and upon opening its case on 

 arrival at the Zoo, it was, unfortunately, found to be dead. The body, how- 

 ever, was in good preservation, and may be seen in a large case of alcohol in 

 the reptile-room of the Natural History Museum at South Kensington." 

 Although there are no cobras in Australia, that country is the home of an 

 equally deadly serpent known as the death-adder {Pseiidechis porphyriacd). 

 In this snake the cylindrical body is extremely long and slender, the head is 

 but imperfectly defined from the neck, and the scales are smooth. The 

 species, which grows to as much as seven feet in length, is commonly kuQwn 

 in its native country as the black snake. 



The last group of the present section of the Coluhrichii is that of the sea- 

 snakes, which form the sub - family HydrophiiHce. They difler from the 

 Elapiiim by the compressed and oar-like form of the tail, and also by the 

 scales on the under surface being either nearly similar to those on the upper 

 parts, or if enlarged into 

 shields, by their being much 

 smaller than in ordinary ter- 

 restrial snakes. As their 

 name implies, the sea-snakes 

 are peculiar in the sub-order 

 for their marine habits. Most 

 of them, indeed, pass the 

 whole of their time in the 

 open sea, where they produce 

 their young alive without the 

 intervention of eggs ; but 

 there are certain species which 

 are partly terrestrial, and 

 serve to connect the more 

 typical representatives of the 

 sub-family with the crait and 

 its allies. Sea-snakes are 

 most abundant in the tropical 



portions of the Western Pacific and the Indian Ocean, although a few enjoy 

 a much more extensive range. They are all highly venomous, and most are 

 handsomely and brilliantly tinted, the coloration being always variegated. 

 They feed on fish and other marine creatures, and frequently associate in 

 companies of considerable size. When cast on shore by the waves, the 

 majority are utterly helpless, lying where they are thrown until they die. 

 Unlike other members of the sub-order, sea-snakes change their skins piece- 

 meal instead of entire ; the renovation taking place very frequently. They 

 also differ from ordinary snakes in the shortness of the tongue ; and while 

 at sea only the extreme tips of this organ are thrust out through a couple of 

 small notches from the closed mouth. The three species constituting the genus 

 Platurus are those which serve to connect the rest with the crait group, and 

 are distinguished by having the under surface of the body and tail covered 



Fig. 25. — Banded Sea^Ssas.^ (Flaturas laticaudaiits). 



