23. Morelia variegata.

The Carpet Snake.

I am inclined to think that the Carpet Snake and the Diamond Snake are identical, varying in colour in different localities; Carpet Snakes occur in every part of Australia, the page 31 South East Coast excepted; they differ from the Diamond Snake in nothing but their markings, which consist of a series of brown blotches with darker margins, whilst the Diamond Snake is of a glossy bluish black, with a bright yellow spot in the centre of nearly every scale.

The Carpet Snake does not appear to be so common on the plains or in the mountain districts, and a single specimen only was secured; this snake feeds upon birds, small mammals, &c., and produces a large number of eggs; from 20 to 30 as the natives informed me.