ON THE COMMON INDIAN SNAKES. 529 



Attention to the points above mentioned should admit of no con- 

 fusion between this and other forms that bear some superficial resem- 

 blance to it. Among these may be mentioned Eryx conicus and 

 Dipsadomorphus trigonatus. I have seen a very old and faded spirit 

 specimen of the former which bore a marked resemblance to E. 

 earinata. This species possesses the first two points mentioned above, 

 but the ventrals are peculiarly narrow, several rows of costals (instead 

 of the last only) being visible on either side simultaneously when the 

 specimen is laid on its back. As a matter of fact, there is very little 

 resemblance between the two in colouration in life though I have 

 known the two confused. 



As regards Dipsadomorphus trigonatus which I have also known 

 confused with the Echis, the resemblance is, I consider, extremely 

 superficial, affecting colour and markings only, the relatively slender 

 and elongate body being very markedly in contrast, and the first two 

 shield characters noted above absent. 



Haunts. — It is essentially a desert snake, but occurs plentifully in 

 semi-desert tracts where the soil, though sandy and poor, supports 

 some sparse vegetation, so long as open patches intervene. In Delhi 

 it appeared to be most plentiful on the Ridge where the broken 

 and rocky nature of the ground afforded special facilities for conceal- 

 ment, or retirement in the face of danger, but there are many waste 

 sandy tracts where rocks do not occur where it thrives in great num- 

 bers. Blanford* obtained 2 or 3 specimens in thin jungle about 

 Ellore, and expressed surprise at finding a desert form like the Echis 

 in wooded country. It is not found in dense jungle, for the reason I 

 suppose that its colouration in such an environment would no longer 

 be protective, added to which it does not appear to need shade, 

 enjoying as it does the fiercest rays of the tropical sun, and at the 

 hottest seasons of the year. It may be seen lying in the sand exposed 

 to the full force of the sun, or may retire beneath stones, or into clefts 

 and crannies of rock so baked with the sun's rays that the hand cannot 

 bear contact with them. Yet even under such conditions it seems 

 to rely solely on the juices of the animals it eats for the moisture 

 necessary to assuage its thirst. It sometimes takes refuge in holes in 

 the ground as I have good reason to know when digging along the 

 burrows leading to the nests of the green bee-eater {Merops viridis). 



* -Jourl. Asiat. Soc, Bengal, Vol. xlviii, p. 116. 



