'• POPULAR TREATISE ON COMMON INDIAN SNAKES. 295 



Iari;e speciiHen referred to above had eaten two lair-sized ruts, and lie 

 has found a field rat taken on another occasion. 



Breeding. — 1 know nothing of this, and can fiml no allusion to the 

 subject, 



Dislrihvtion. (a) Geographical.— J^urma, Indo-China, ■ Malay 

 Peninsula and Archipelago. 



It is only found in the lower part of the Burmese Province, prob- 

 al)ly not above the 20th parallel if indeed it reaches as far North as 

 this. In Indo-China it is only recorded from the South. In the 

 Malayan Peninsula it extends from Sumatra to (Celebes. 



I do not credit South India as part of its habitat, the authority for 

 which rests on a single example from Trichinopoly now in the Indian 

 Museum. If the specimen came from there at all, I feel confident it 

 had been imported. 



(h) Local. — It is a snake of the Plains and in Lower Burma is 

 ([uite one of the common species to be met with, about Cantonments 

 and the precincts of men as well as further afield. 



Lepidosis. Rostral. — Touches four shields only, tu":., the internasals 

 and first labials. Internasals. — Two, the suture between them about 

 one-third that between the praifrontal fellows, one-half or less than half 

 the internaso-prsefrontal sutures. Prcefrontals. — Two, the suture be- 

 tween them twice or more than twice the prrefronto-frontal suture ; in 

 contact with the internasal, nasal, praeocular, and frontal. Frontal. — 

 Touches 9 shields, the sutures with the lateral parietals longest, 

 the praeocular sutures are longer than the supraocular (another unique 

 character). Supraoculars. — About one-third as long, and one-fourth as 

 broad as the frontal. Parietals. — Three, a median posterior separat- 

 ing two lateral shields. Occipitals. — Two, placed behind the lateral 

 parietals ; not in contact. Nasals. — Two, the nostril is quite contained 

 in the anterior, and involves about the median tw'o-fourths of the suture 

 between ; not in contact with the rostral ; touches the 1st, 2nd and 

 3rd labials. Loreal. — Absent. Frceocular. — One large, extensively 

 in contact with the frontal. Postoculars. — Tw^o, the upper larger ; 

 almost unique in being as large or larger than the temporals. Tem- 

 porals. — Two. Supralabials. — 8, the 1st meets the internasal in front of 

 the nasals, the 4th and 5th touch the eye. Infralahials. — o, the 3rd 

 largest and in contact with two scales behind. Sidilimjuals. — One pair. 



Costals. — Two heads-lengths behind the head 15, midbody 15 ; two 

 2 



