47 



One or two others measured about Sft. 3in. or 

 8ft. 6in., about seven or eight were over yjft. in 

 length, and the average length of the remainder 

 (about forty or fifty) was about 6jft. 



The Hydrophobus Nympha was the first 

 specimen I had obtained of that variety, and was 

 killed in the bath ! 



Dryophis Mycterizans and Tropidonotus Quin- 

 cunciatus were very common, but having many 

 specimens of these, I did not trouble to kill any. 



At Anuradhapura a very fine Dipsas Forstenii 

 (the red variety) was shot, and measured 6ft. 8|in. 

 I now have the skin in my collection, the gentle- 

 man who shot it having kindly given it to me. 



Pythons are numerous in the Anuradhapura 

 district, but it is necessary to go at least two miles 

 outside the town before likely country is met with. 

 The far end of the Tissawewa is a good place, as 

 are the jungles round the Balankulam, but the 

 latter, though pythons are numerous in them, are 

 rather too thick to facilitate snake hunting. 



I found Kurunegala to be, during the dry The snakes 

 season, an almost better place for snake hunting Kumnegaia 

 than Anuradhapura, as, in the evening, owing to District. 

 the draught, the snakes were obliged to leave the 

 jungles and enter the paddy fields, in search of any 

 water that had not dried up since the previous 

 flooding. 



In one paddy field alone, in the course of a 

 month, I caught over forty specimens of Tropi- 

 donotus Stolatus, though needless to say I did not 

 keep them all. There were also many colonies of 

 T. Plumbicolor, though I have found this snake to 

 be somewhat uncommon in other parts of Ceylon. 

 Three specimens of Z. Mucosus which I 

 obtained measured gft. 6in., gft. Sfin., and loft., 

 while a snake charmer brought me a Dipsas 

 Barnesii, about 4Jft. long. 



