SNAKES 



123 



furcata), and the large falcate-winged Campylopterus 

 obscurus. 



Snakes were very numerous at Caripi ; many harm- 

 less species were found near the house, and these some- 

 times came into the rooms. I was wandering one day 

 amongst the green bushes of Guajara, a tree which yields 

 a grape-like berry (Chrysobalanus Icaco) and grows along 

 all these sandy shores, when I was startled by what ap- 

 peared to be the flexuous stem of a creeping plant en- 

 dowed with life and threading its way amongst the leaves 

 and branches. This animated hana turned out to be a 

 pale-green snake, the Dryophis fulgida. Its whole body 

 is of the same green hue, and it is thus rendered undis- 

 tinguishable amidst the foliage of the Guajara bushes, 

 where it prowls in search of its prey, tree-frogs and 

 lizards. The forepart of its head is prolonged into a 

 slender pointed beak, and the total length of the reptile 

 was six feet. There was another kind found amongst 

 bushes on the borders of the forest closely allied to this, 

 but much more slender, viz., the Dryophis acuminata. 

 This grows to a length of 4 feet 8 inches, the tail alone 

 being 22 inches ; but the diameter of the thickest part 

 of the body is little more than a quarter of an inch. It 

 is of light brown colour, with iridescent shades varie- 

 gated with obscurer markings, and looks like a piece of 

 whipcord. One individual which I caught of this species 

 had a protuberance near the middle of the body. On 

 opening it I found a half-disgested lizard which was much 

 more bulky than the snake itself. Another kind of ser- 

 pent found here, a species of Helicops, was amphibious 

 in its habits. I saw several of this in wet weather on 

 the beach, which, on being approached, always made 

 straightway for the water, where they swam with much 

 grace and dexterity. Florinda one day caught a Helicops 

 whilst angling for fish, it having swallowed the fish-hook 

 with the bait. She and others told me these water- 

 snakes Hved on small fishes, but I did not meet with any 

 proof of the fact. In the woods, snakes were constantly 

 occurring : it was not often, however, that I saw poisonous 

 species. There were many arboreal kinds besides the two 

 just mentioned ; and it was rather alarming, in ento- 

 mologizing about the trunks of trees, to suddenly en- 

 counter, on turning round, as sometimes happened, a 

 pair of glittering eyes and a forked tongue within a few 



