530 WHIP SNAKES — -THE GREEN SNAKE. 



would be the strife between a python and the venomous 

 bushmaster of Demerara. 



LABARRI, OR ELAPS LEMNISCATUS. 

 The labarri— another beautiful snake, adorned with the 

 colours of the rainbow — produces certain death by its en- 

 venomed bite. It, too, is a tree-climber, and may be seen 

 lying coiled up on a low, thick branch or decayed stump, 

 or sometimes on the bare ground, apparently selecting spots 

 where it can be least easily distinguished. Though generally 

 smaller than the bushmaster, it attains a length of eight feet 



or more. 



WHIP SNAKES. 



There are two or three species of whip snakes, or Dryadidse, 

 remarkable for the slender elegance of their forms, and in 

 general for the great beauty of their colouring, as well as for the 

 rapidity of their movements. The whip snake, having seized 

 its prey, winds its light and lithe body round its victim, coil 

 upon coil, like the boa and anaconda, and strangles it in its 

 embrace. 



The emerald whip snake (Philodryas viridissimus) is one of 

 the most beautiful. So slender is its body that, although two 

 feet long or more, it can coil itself up within a space not 

 larger than the hollow of the hand. It lives in trees, and 

 may be seen sporting amid the branches ; but the moment it 

 catches sight of a person, away it darts, scarcely moving the 

 branches and leaves amid which it makes its way. 



THE GREEN SNAKE. 



Delicate in form, and of the brightest orass-^reen — while, 

 like the rest of its family, perfectly harmless — the green snako 



