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THE PYTHON. 
The general color of this Serpent is grayish-brown above, covered with narrow bands 
of black set rather closely together. The abdomen is black mottled with yellow, the sides 
are white with spots of pale brown, and the lips and throat are of the same tint, but spotted 
with black. The tail is nearly black. The usual length of this Serpent is about three feet 
six inches. 
We now arrive at a very important family of serpents, including the largest species found 
in the order. These Snakes are known by the popular title of Boas, and scientifically as 
Boidse, and are all remarkable, not only for their great size and curious mode of taking their 
prey, but for the partial development of the hinder limbs, which are externally visible as a 
pair of horny spurs, set one on each side at the base of the tail, and moderately well developed 
under the skin, consisting of several bones jointed together. In most of the species the tail is 
CARPET SNAKE .— Morelia variegata. 
rather short and strongly prehensile. The peculiar habits of these enormous Snakes will be 
mentioned in connection with the various species. The first of these creatures is the Diamond 
Snake of Australia (. Morelia spilotes), a very handsome species and tolerably common. It is 
called the Diamond Snake on account of the pattern of the colors, which are generally blue, 
black, and yellow, arranged so as to produce a series of diamonds along the back. The Cakpet 
Snake ( Morelia variegata ), of the same country, is closely allied to it. Both these reptiles are 
variable in their coloring. 
The members of the restricted genus Python are remarkable for their habit of depositing 
the eggs together and coiling their bodies round them, so as to form a large conical heap. The 
common grass Snake is said to perform the same feat. The true Pythons are inhabitants of 
