COLUBRINE GROUP. 
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feature, the scales of the body overlap one another but very slightly, if at all. 
The Javan wart-snake, which is the sole representative of the genus, is characterised 
by the absence of lower shields, by the head being covered with uniform granules, 
and by the very slight compression of the body. The head is rather short and 
broad, with the muzzle wider than long, and the small eyes directed forwards; 
while the nostrils are placed close together on the tip of the muzzle. The nearly 
cylindrical tail is short and prehensile. The colour is brown above and yellowish 
on the sides; the young having large irregular dark brown spots, which coalesce 
into bands on the back, and gradually tend to disappear in the adult. In size 
this snake may measure upwards of 8 feet. It is distributed over the Malay 
Peninsula, Java, and New Guinea; and, although it has been stated to be 
terrestrial, modern observations indicate that it is essentially aquatic, seldom 
JAY AN WART-SNAKE (§ nat. size). 
even leaving the water, and feeding upon fish and frogs. A female in the 
possession of Cantor gave birth to twenty-seven young ones in less than half 
an hour, which were active and bit fiercely as soon as they came into the world. 
An allied genus, represented by a single species (Chersydrus granulatus), 
ranging from Southern India to New Guinea, differs by the marked compression 
of the body and tail, and thus closely resembles the sea-snakes of the front-fanged 
series of the family, and likewise resembles them in habits, frequenting the 
mouths of rivers and the coast from Southern India to New Guinea, and being 
often found far out at sea. It produces living young, and subsists on fish. A 
third Oriental genus, likewise known merely by one species (Xenodermus 
javanicus), has large shields on the under surface. In the other two genera— 
Stoliczkaia from India, and Nothopsis from Central America—not only are there 
lower shields, but the granules on the head are replaced by large shields. 
