COLLECTION OF SNAKES IK THE NILGIKl HILLS. •'367 



Growth. — Five young of the year ranging between 13 and lo^ inches 

 were included in July, sixteen between 18 and 17 \ inches in August, and 

 one 15| inches in September. Eleven other examples measuring from 20 

 to 23 inches were obviously last year's broods. Fourteen others from 30 

 to 39 inches seem to represent the progeny of the year before last. My 

 largest was a 5 48^ inches in length. 



Parasites. — Scarlet mites had attached themselves to two specimens, 

 probably the same species already reported with reference to Lycodon 

 travanco7'icu>t, and Macropisthodon plumbicolor. 



Lepidosis. — The labials were 10 in one example with the .5th, 6th and 7th 

 touching the eye. In one the 5th to the 9th subcaudals were entire. 



One large specimen captured alive proved a very truculent creature to 

 deal with. It buried its teeth in the butterfly net used to encompass its 

 capture, and then got itself tied up in the net in a hopeless muddle. 



Dentition. — The maxilla carries from 19 to 25 teeth, the palatine 10 to 14, 

 the pterygoid 15 to 26 (? 30) and the mandible 22 to 30. 



The Indian Bronze-backed Tree Snake — Dendrelaphis tristis (Daudin). 



It is singular that this species which is so aljundant in the Plains only 

 furnished 6 representatives and it seems probable that they were from 

 slopes below about 3,000 feet. 



Sexes.- — Three were c? and 3 $ . 



food. — A frog of the genus Lialus had been swallowed on two 

 occasions. 



Lepidosis. — The costals in all the S reduced to 9 posteriorly, and in all 

 the 2 to 11. The ventral count for the d" was 179 to 181, and the $ 174 

 to 180. The subcaudal count for the S was 133 to 159 and for the 2 145 

 to 154. 



The Beautiful Kukri Snake — Oligodon venustus (Jerdon). 



The 30 specimens procured show that the species favours an altitude 

 between 5,000 and 6,000 feet and this probably accounts for the relatively 

 few examples furnished by the Wynaad. It extends up to at least 6,500 

 feet. 



The sexes. — Of 26 sexed, 12 were J and 14 5 . 



Food. — Until this holiday in the Nilgris I had failed to discover the diet 

 of the Kukri snakes as a group. 



The few, and very minute teeth in the palatine, and pterygoid bones, 

 seemed to indicate something peculiar in their choice of food, w-hich I now 

 find consists of reptilian eggs, frog's eggs, and snails. In two cases the 

 stomach was distended with a mass of frog"s eggs, in a third there were 16 

 eggs, and in a fourth 4 eggs, and a snail. In no case was any 

 vestige of a frog ingested. Eggs of reptiles which may have been either 

 snakes or lizards wuth soft shells had been eaten by four examples. In two 

 cases a single egg was found, in one two eggs, and in a third three eggs. 

 The size of these Avas about the same in each case being about f of an inch 

 in length. These eggs were invariably flat, and empty, and in some cases 

 were found embedded in a mass of coagulated yolk, the nature of 

 which puzzled me till I discovered an egg-case embedded therein. One 

 specimen had swallowed a snail with a white shell very little damaged. In 

 another amorphous masses were found of the consistency of a cooked meally 



