AUSTRALIAN SNAKES. 
27 
FAMILY OF ROCK SNAKES-P YTHONID2E. 
The Australian Rock Snakes are rather more numerous in genera 
than other non-venomous tribes inhabiting this country, and, excepting the 
Bolyeria multicarinata,* six more or less distinct species of them have been 
observed. 
The largest snakes belong to this family, and individuals of great 
length occur, some measuring as much as ten feet, and perhaps more. 
The body is muscular, more or less compressed in young individuals; 
tail prehensile, with a pair of spurs representing rudimentary limbs at its 
root, which are often hidden beneath the scales. The head is elongate, 
flat, and covered with many irregular small plates; if any regular 
plates are present, they never reach further than to betw r een the eyes. The 
scales are smooth, and the rows they form around the body far more 
numerous than in any other tribe of Ophidians inhabiting Australia, so 
that by the large number of scales alone their harmless nature may be 
ascertained. The pupil is vertical, but dilates at night or in the dark; in 
fact, all our Pythons are Night Snakes, and when observed in the day-time 
moving about it is generally because they have been disturbed. The teeth 
are numerous in both jaws ; they feed on the smaller mammals, birds, &c., 
which they kill by pressure ; they lay eggs, and incubate them. 
Pythons are found on the Indian Continent and the islands of the 
Archipelago, in Africa and Australia. The American Boas form a different 
family. 
The way in which these snakes attack their prey is very simple. 
Coiled on the branch of a tree, the reptile moves only the head and part of 
the body, advancing and retreating—in fact, measuring its distance with 
head and neck bent into the form of a horizontal S. When pretty sure of 
its aim, the snake darts forward with open jaws, fastens upon the victim, 
and in an instant brings it within a loop formed by a portion of the body, 
which gradually tightens till the prey is suffocated. In this position the 
snake will remain for twenty minutes or half an hour, holding the body of 
the animal tightly; it then gradually uncoils, and, if inclined to feed, 
begins the process of swallowing with the head. 
* This species is mentioned erroneously as inhabiting the neighbourhood of Port Jackson. 
