MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. 509 



No. XVII.— OCCURRENCE OF THE TREE SNAKE (DENDROVHIS 



riCTL'S) IxN KUMAON. 



Wheu 1 wrote my popular article on this Snake in this Journal, (Vol. 

 XIX, p. 787, et i^eq.), the only evidence that it occurs in Northern India, 

 West of Bengal was from Stoliczka, who reported it common in Kuniaon 

 and Sutlej. Further, out of 7U4 snakes collected by me in Fyzabad, U. P. 

 no single specimen came to bag. 



It is interesting therefore that on my journey from Ranibag to 

 Kathgodam at the foot of the Naiui Tal Hills on the loth of this month 

 I came across a iine 5 specimen. 



It crossed the road holding its head some 9 inches or a foot high, 

 having something in its jaws. Hurriedly dismounting I managed to 

 disable the snake before it gained jungle cover, and was surprised to find 

 it a Dcndrophis pictus. Its intended victim which was held transversely, 

 in the jaws as a dog carries a stick, was dropped on the road, and when 

 picked up proved to be a large gecko (probably Hemidactylus eoctaei), 

 1 identitied the snake fron\ its colouration chiefly, from D. tristis [vide 

 remarks on page 779 of the article above referred to). I did not examine 

 the dentition, nor count the ventrals and subcaudals. The costals were 

 15 anteriorly and in midbody, 11 posteriorly. 



F. WALL, Lt.-Col., i.m.s. 

 J H BLUM, 22nd October 1917. 



No. XVIII.— PYTHONS BREEDING IN CAPTIVITY. 



A female Python {F>/thon molurus) measuring 8'-G" had been caged for 

 four years in the vivarium of the Nagpur Museum, and on the 10th October 

 1916, a male measuring 5'-8" was introduced into the same cage. At first 

 there was a tendency to disagree but after a day or two the pair became 

 friendly and invariably lay coiled together. After the winter fast the 

 dam appeared to be falling ofl' in her appetite and began to refuse food 

 oftered to her. In February she ate but one chicken and a rat, in March 

 nothing, in April only one rat, after which she refused food entirely. On 

 ll^th May she deposited 16 eggs. Deposition began at about 7 a.m. and 

 ended at 2 p.m. The snake lay coiled during the process and as each egg 

 was laid she proceeded to cover it with her coils. 



One egg which was opened contained an embryo in an early stage of 

 development which measured 3 inches when unravelled. The heart was 

 seen pulsating and the hind limbs were indicated by two minute promi- 

 nences. The weight of this egg was 6:^ oz. 



On the following day it was noticed that she had completely covered 

 seven eggs under her coils and rejected the rest. This was probably due 

 to her inability to cover more than seven eggs or they may have been put 

 out of place by the movements of the male snake which still remained in 

 the same cage. These eggs measured as follows: — 



34 



