THE HABITS OF MALAY REPTILES. LOW. 
crushing the head, the prey is crushed by the coils. In the case of 
a swan swallowed by a fair sized python, the head was crushed, 
evidently by the first bite, but the bones of the body were not 
broken at all, although the bird was very much thicker than the 
python. In some books it is stated that the prey is smothered in 
the coils, but as a matter of fact, the bite of the python is severe 
enough to cause instant death in most of the smaller victims, and 
the contraction of the coils crushes the larger ones. The main 
use of the coils in the case of small animals and birds is appa- 
rently partly to hinder their struggling, and partly to push the 
carcase into the proper position for swallowing, and to assist the 
deglutition by pressing the food against the other coils and the 
ground. It is only when the prey has almost disappeared down 
its throat that the snake straightens itself out. The Chinese 
eat the flesh of the Python, and the fat, of which there is usually 
a good deal, is a popular native medicine. In colour the python 
varies somewhat, young and half-grown specimens being often 
almost golden yellow. I have also seen a very dark, almost 
black variety. 
P. mo’urus, the Indian python, is recorded from the penin- 
sula, but I have not seen it. 
P. curtus, the little red python, formerly considered very 
rare, does not seem to be so in the peninsula. It is quite small 
for a python, only 8 or 9 feet long usually. It isa quiet snake 
in captivity and seems chiefly to feed on rats. 
The little burrowing snakes, Typh/ops, are to be found in 
rotten cocoanut palms, and other trees, in the sawdust of the saw 
mills, and in the ground. A great number of kinds have been 
described, but they are very difficult to identify. Our common- 
est species is Typhlops braminus. It is usually about four inches 
long, and very slender, with a very small head, and minute eyes, 
and a sharp-pointed tail. Its colour is lavender grey, or black, 
and it is very active, wriggling like a worm when disturbed. 
Cylindrophus rufus is another burrowing snake, but is much 
larger, about a foot long. Itis biack, with white bands beneath, 
some red on its neck, and a bright red tip to its tail. It is short 
and thick, and has an odd habit of flattening itself out, and 
turning up the tip of its tail. It is common in gardens, burrow- 
ing in the ground. 
