Guide to the gallery of Reptilia and Amphibia in the Department of Zoology of the British Museum (Natural History) / illustrated by 76 text and other figures.

  • British Museum (Natural History). Department of Zoology.
Date:
1913
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    by the absence of black patches at the back of the head. The other harmless British species is the Smooth Snake (Coromlla austriaca, 261) , now found in England only in Dorset, Hampshire, and Surrey, and there but seldom. Both these Snakes have large, shield-like scales on the top of the head, and thereby differ from the Yiper, as shown in the accompanying cuts. Other well-known Snakes of this group are the North American Water-Mocassin (Tropidonotus fas- ciatus, 242), the Indian Rat-Snake (Zamenis mucosus), the American Black Snake (Z. constrictor, 250), the European Four-lined Snake (Coluber quatuor-tineatus, 253), the North American Bull-Snake (C. melanoleucus), and the South American Corais Snake (G. corais, 255). The Australian Dendrophis punctulatus (257) is a good example of the Tree-Snakes, while the Small-scaled Snake (Coromlla micropholis, 262) , with its alternate bands of black and scarlet, displays a type of colouring very uncommon among Serpents. An extremely interesting Snake in this family is the African African Egg-eating Snake (Dasypeltis scabra); J nat. size. (No. 272-) The lower specimen has just swallowed an egg. (From Gadow, Cambridge Natural History.) Egg-eating Snake (.Dasypeltis scabra, 272, fig. 18), which typifies a sub-family (.Dasiypeltince) by itself. Its greatest peculiarity is that the
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    No text description is available for this image