376 JOTJRl^AL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXV. 



from injury when the snake is burrowing. Vision is more or less 

 obtuse at the best, but becomes more and more obscured as a period 

 of desquamation approaches, from scratches sustained during bur- 

 rowing operations. Some of the species are endowed with a 

 minute spine at the tip of the tail which is directed downwards, 

 with which they anchor the posterior part of the bodj^ and against 

 which they can push, or retract the rest of the body. Many are 

 not so endowed, and some of these, but by no means all, have the 

 snout provided with a beak directed downwards. Those with the 

 snout rounded appear to burrow as expeditious^ beneath the soil 

 as the beaked species, so that the beak cannot be claimed as a 

 specialised burrowing organ. 



Very little is known of the habits of these snakes, many of the 

 species of which indeed are only known from solitary specimens. 

 They are believed to be oviparous in habit, but I am not aware of 

 any authenticated instance of the eggs of any of them having been 

 deposited. Some of the species have been observed to exhibit a 

 gregarious disposition, but whether the attraction is supplied by 

 the rich store of food a rotten trunk or log has to offer, or is related 

 to the sexual functions is not certain. It may be that like other 

 snakes they pass through a period of inactivity, and during the 

 hibernating season, seek for warmth in their retirement, such as 

 rotting wood generates. In such an environment they are amply 

 supplied with sustenance in the form of maggots and chrysalides of 

 beetles, ants, and other insects. Further as man}^ snakes (perhaps 

 all) during their retirement live in company with a mate, it is 

 often at this time that conjugal duties are initiated. If this is so 

 a third object is gained by the formation of colonies. Once I saw 

 a colony dislodged from beneath the soil, but I am not prepared to 

 say that in the jungle where this occurred, there may not have been 

 rotting roots in which the members were embedded. 



The head is covered with shields having a form and relation- 

 ship that is peculiar to this family, and the Glauconiidae. 

 The scales on the bod}^ of these creatures are very highly polished 

 and this appears to be a special adaptation with the object of prevent- 

 ing earth adhering to them. Owing to this polish it is difficult to see 

 their outlines. As in many cases too a subterminal dark line is 

 seen near the scale margins, which seems to indicate the edge of 

 each scale, one is very easily misled as to the real limits of 

 the scale. In some species especially, even when the head or body 

 is dipped into red or black ink to throw up the scale borders, it is 

 extremely difficult to ascertain with certainty the details one is 

 specially looking for. The difficulty in many cases is materially 

 increased by the diminutive proportions of the specimen under 

 examination. 



To count the costal rows round the body is almost m possible 



