836 JOURNAL. BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. XIX, 



A large specimen preserved in a bottle was sent to me in the act 

 of swallowing- a snake [Zamenis mucosus). The tail and about 2 inches 

 of the body were protruding from the mouth. The tail measured 

 1 foot 4f inches, indicating that the dhaman was about 5 feet in 

 length. Mr. 0. Gore told me that the first specimen he ever saw 

 in Assam was in the act of swallowing another snake which was 

 grasped in the middle of the body, and was struggling for liberty. 

 He also told me that he once knew this snake to bite a bullock 

 which died about ^0 minutes or so later. Major Leventon, I. M. S., told 

 me that he once killed a gravid 9 at Sibsagar, which measured 6 feet 

 1| inches. Unfortunately he could not be certain of the date. 



This snake like all the other Kraits with which I am acquainted 

 is singularly lethargic, and most difficult to anger. I had many 

 brought to me alive, and had ample means of observing its dis- 

 position. I did my utmost to provoke one to strike but could not. 

 It simply lay where it was, and made no attempt to escape. When 

 irritated it hid its head beneath its body. When taken by the tail, 

 and roughly shaken, it simply flattened itself, and then buried its head 

 again beneath the body. When a stick was thrust ([uickly'^at it, it 



