232 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. XVIII. 



and poisonous alike, would try to glide away quietly, this one will turn 

 to attack the person who disturbs it, and will attempt to resist capture 

 to the uttermost, striking, and biting ferociously. * * * Individuals 

 I have at various times tried to keep in captivity showed no signs of 

 becoming tamer, and would always bite my hand when I put it in 

 the vivarium, and being also an annoyance to the other inmates of 

 the cage, I have only kept them for a few days at a time." 



I must say I can abundantly confirm Flower's experiences. There 

 is no doubt that this snake is decidedly plucky, and on occasions 

 fierce, but I would not suggest that all are equally vicious. I think 

 that snakes, like other creatures, exhibit individual character. 



I well remember my servant in Rangoon trying to effect the 

 capture of a large specimen in a hedge adjoining my compound. 

 I arrived on the scene when the excitement was at its height and 

 discovered that all the menial establishment amounting to ten or more 

 had been pressed into service. The snake had fought most cour- 

 ageously to elude capture, and struck at any. one who ventured to 

 attempt to grasp it. My boy, confident of master's solatium in 

 the form of a rupee if the creature was captured alive, had been 

 struck at and bitten, and I hardly knew which to admire most, the 

 servant's determination and courage or the snake's vigorous endeav- 

 ours to retain its liberty. 



Flower mentions one in a fit of rage biting itself with such vigour 

 that its teeth were fixed into the side of its body, and I can remem- 

 ber recapturing one which had escaped from my vivarium and had 

 taken refuge between some boards in my house. When extricated 

 after some difficulty, and with the employment of some force, it 

 struck at and buried its teeth in its own body. 



The fact that this snake will even face, much less try conclusions 

 with a tuctoo ( Gecko vertic Hiatus) is eloquent proof of its intrepidity. 

 Flower says : " I have known it eat Hemidactylus frenatus and Gecko 

 verticMalus ; the latter may give battle to the snake for some 

 hours before being finally swallowed." In a recent issue of this 

 Journal I gave two instances of the indomitable courage of this 

 giant gecko. In one instance it was clearly the aggressor, and not 

 only confronted but actually drove back a large rat snake [Zamenis 

 mucosus), a species whose courage is well established, and actually 

 during the retreat snapped and bit off part of its tail. In the other 



