226 REPTILES

are twenty-three species of them—are exclusively
American. The word viper is a contraction of Vzvz-
para, the name given to the animal because its young
are born alive, the eggs being hatched in the oviduct.
The poisonous snakes, as distinct from the vipers,
comprise the cobras, coral-snakes, and sea-snakes.

 

THE RATTLESNAKE

Some of the sea-snakes are twelve feet long; they
live all their lives in the Indian and Pacific Oceans,
between the tropics, feeding on fish, and are as easily
recognisable by their paddle-shaped tails as the Crotalz
by their rattles, and they are, if anything, more
poisonous. The coral-snakes are chiefly Australian ;