THE BROWN WOOD-SNAKE. 
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living in trees, and darting its lithe form from branch to branch with arrow-like celerity, 
leaping, as it were, from the coiled folds in which it prepares itself for the spring, and passing 
through the boughs as if shot from a bow, its glittering scales flashing an emerald or sapphi- 
rine radiance, as it glances through the sunbeams. 
The head of the Boiga is long and slender, as beseems the delicate body ; the eye is very 
full and round, and the gape very wide. The upper part of its body is rich, shining blue, 
shot with sparkling green ; and three bright, golden stripes run along the body, one travers- 
a ing the spinal line, and another passing along each side. Behind each eye is a bold jetty- 
black streak, and immediately below the black line runs a stripe of pure white. 
The specific name ought properly to be spelled leiocercus. It is of Greek origin, and 
signifies smooth-tail, in allusion to the smooth-surfaced scales of the back and tail. 
The family of the Wood-Snakes, or Dryiophidm, as they are learnedly called, contains 
some interesting and rather cu- 
rious reptiles. 
The Golden Tree-Snake, 
which is a native of Mexico, is a 
most lovely species, and of a 
most singular length, looking 
more like the thong of a “gig 
whip” than a living reptile. It 
lives in trees, and in many re- 
spects resembles the preceding 
species. It is not so gorgeously 
decorated as the boiga, but its 
colors are beautifully soft and 
delicate. The general tint of 
this Serpent is gray, tinged with 
yellow, and having a golden 
reflection in certain lights, and 
being decidedly iridescent in 
others. The body is profusely 
covered with minute dottings of 
black. 
The accompanying illustra- 
tion represents the Langaha, 
one of the Serpents of Madagas- 
car, remarkable for the singular 
appendage to the head. The 
muzzle is extremely elongated, 
and is furnished with a fleshy 
projection, about one-third as 
long as the head, and covered 
with small scales. There is an- 
other species, the Cock’s-comb 
Langaha ( Langaha crista-gal- 
li), also a native of Madagascar, 
which is known from the ordi- 
nary Species by the form of the LANGAHA. — Langaha nasuta. (Two-thirds natural size.) 
appendage, which is toothed 
something like the comb upon a cock’s head. The color of the Langaha is reddish-brown. 
A very beautiful example of the Wood-Snakes is found in Ceylon. This is the Brown 
Wood-Snake (Passertta mycteriza%s±. Like the langaha, the snout of this Serp t is 
