(330 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXV. 



but would not bite any object with which I attempted to irritate 

 it. it merely flattened its bodj^ posteriorly, and when I picked it 

 up by the neck secreted poison copiously which collected as a drop 

 in the rostral arch. Through the drop its tongue flickered in and 

 out tremulousl}'. 



The fact that there are no records of a bite from this snake 

 though common enough in certain localities, seems to confirm the 

 opinions expressed above as to its placid nature. 



It is eminently a jungle as well as a hill species. In all the 

 localities where it is met with, the country is heavily forested. The 

 little specimen Evans and I got in the Pegu Yomas was trodden 

 on by a wounded elephant, and pressed firmlj' into the soft soil. 

 The trackers discovered it wriggling vainlj^ to extricate itself, and 

 it was practically undamaged. One of Venning's largest speci- 

 mens was discovered on the parade ground while a game of foot- 

 ball was in progress. It is always found in hills or in their near 

 vicinity. For choice it inhabits a zone at an altitude of about 4,000 

 to G,000 feet, but may occur lower. The specimens sent to me by 

 Mr. Gore were from probabl}' about 1,000 feet elevation, but 

 quite close to outliers of the Naga Hills in Assam . Those from 

 the Abor Hills were from a similar elevation. 



Food. — Fayrer sa3-s that it feeds chiefl}^ on snakes. I have no 

 single record of its diet though more than 50 have passed through 

 mv hands. 



Breeding, tCc. — Ver}^ little is knoAvn of its breeding habits. A 

 gravid female measuring 1 foot 11 inches that I obtained from 

 Shillong in August 1911, contained 6 eggs, 2 in one ovary, 4 in 

 the other. The longest of these esgs meastired ly^ inches bv -,'',■ ot 



o e » 1 () lib 



an inch. When cut into they Avere found to contain young embryos 

 about 1 to 1^ inches long. It is not certain however that the 

 young are born alive, it may he that the eggs are discharged as 

 such still harbouring j^oung that are destined to hatch some time 

 later, as in the case of some of the tree snakes of the genus Ben- 

 (Irophis, and the pit-viper Lac/iesis monticola. The length of the 

 hatchling or young, as the case may be, is not known. The smallest 

 specimen I have seen was 9j inches. 



The anal glands secrete a custard-like material. 



Boison. — Little or nothing is known about the virulence of this 

 venom. 



No case has been recorded of a bite in the human subject. 

 Faj'rer remarks that fowls succumbed to its bite. 



Length. — It grows to about 2 feet, but specimens exceeding 

 this are uncommon. 1 have however had a specimen 2 feet 7-^ 

 inches from Burma, and three specimens sent to me from Haka in 

 the Chin Hills by Captain A'enning measured 2 feet 5f inches; 

 2 feet 6 inches; and 2 feet 8 inches respectively. 



