MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. 919 



No. XXIII.— A NEW COLOUR VARIETY OF THE COMMON GREEN 

 WHIP- SNAKE (DRYOPHIS MYCTERIZANS). 



Our Society has recently acquired a very interesting specimen of the Common 

 oreen Whip-snake (Dryophis myoterizans) from Major H. Delme-Radcliffe, col- 

 lected in Shwebo, Upper Burma. The specimen is peculiar in the colouration 

 of the belly which is bright rosy tint between the white lateral ventral lines. 

 Otherwise the snake accords in colour, and lepidosis with typical specimens. 

 I propose to call it variety rhodogaster. The ventrals are 191. Subcaudals'i 

 Tail imperfect. Costals 2 headslengths from head 15, midbody 15, 2 heads- 

 lengths before vent 13. This latter is unusual, the rows usually coming to 11 

 at this situation, however I have had other specimens of variety typica from 

 Burma numbering 13. In variety typica the belly is a light emerald green, and 

 in the variety I have lately alluded to as cincreoventer , it is ashy grey. 



F. WALL, Major, i.m.s., c.m.z.s. 

 Dar.teeling, 20th July 1908. 



No. XXIV.— FLYING SNAKES. 



The following extract from my diary may be of interest in connection with 

 Major Wall's interesting remarks re " flying snakes" published in the last 

 Journal, Vol. XVIII, pp. 239—243. 



" Etawah, 7th August 1903.— Visited the Fisher Forest Reserve rented by 



Messrs. Cooper, Allen & Co. of Cawnpore I found a young 



Echis carinata, a foot long, curled up into a figure of eight, and resting on the 

 finest twigs at the extreme end of a babul branch, 5 feet from the ground. I 

 killed him and skinned him. My orderly, who was with me, tells me the 

 natives call it the Urnawalla Sanp, which signifies ' the flying snake.' He says 

 " it can spring from tree to tree, and from a tree on to its quarry." The above 

 mentioned orderly was an extremely intelligent man, and with quite an 

 unusual ' shauq ' for natural history. Unfortunately I was not aware at the 

 time that snakes were credited with these springing powers, otherwise I would 

 have tested them before killing this particular one, and would bave questioned 

 the man more closely. As it was, his information came too late for practical 

 demonstration, and was then regarded by me as merely " folk-lore " ! 



ARUNDEL BEGBIE, Major, 



8th Rajputs. 

 Lucknow, 1th May 1908. 



No. XXV— ABNORMAL SCALES IN THE SNAKES Z AMEN IS 

 MUCOSUS AND DIPSADOMORPHUS TRIGONATUS. 



In his article on the Common Indian Snakes (Vol. XVII, No. 2, page 262) 

 Major F. Wall says about Zamenis mucosus that it has 3 loreals normally. 



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