294 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. XVI. 



considered as members of the same brood, were a good deal dissimilar. 

 The one typical of variety D had 20 conspicuous saffron bars on the 

 body, and an occipital bar ; the other, almost typical of variety E, 

 had a few barely perceptible indications of bars on the forebody, and no 

 occipital bar. The colour in all these was lightish brown, of vari- 

 able shades, like tea and milk, or an unvarnished new cedar pencil, and 

 in almost every specimen the bars were distinctly yellow and not white. 

 The yellow, however, speedily became white in spirit. The bars which 

 numbered as many as 24 on the body involved 1 — 2 scales vertebrally, 

 and the intervals longest anteriorly 6 — 10 scales. Seven specimens I re- 

 ferred with some doubt to Boulenger's variety A. This very handsome 

 form constitutes a very distinct variety, and resembled the young krait 

 so closely that I was most careful to assure myself of its identity before 

 handling it. These specimens were so remarkably similar as to leave 

 the impression that they must breed true inter se. The colour 

 was chocolate or dark purplish-black, and there were from 11 — 19 well- 

 defined white bars on the body, involving 2 scales vertebrally, the 

 intervals longest anteriorly involving 12 — 19 scales. Usually some of 

 the anterior labials were mottled brown, otherwise these shields were 

 uniformly white. 



Many — in fact, most — of my specimens were caught at night by 

 warders at the jail during their rounds, illustrating what is already 

 well known of its nocturnal habit. Many have been caught in 

 the near vicinity of, if not actually in, habitations. I found them 

 agile creatures, displaying sometimes much spirit. I was frequently 

 bitten by them in attempting capture or handling those in 

 captivity. Many specimens, however, when grasped gently — an art in 

 which I am little pruficient — displayed little or no vice, and suffered 

 themselves to be handled with impunity. The bite is trifling : it cannot 

 be said to cause pain, though one is sensible of the impress of their 

 teeth on the skin, and sometimes even a minute speck of blood may be 

 discirned at the spot. On one occasion one vibrated its tail vigor- 

 ously under excitement. I have known it more than once fix itself into 

 rigid coils, so that I could toss it like a bit of knotted cane into the air, 

 without it loosening its folds. Its climbing powers are very remarkable 

 and little inferior to some of the tree-snakes. I have seen it many 

 times clamber with the ease of a lizard up the perpendicular faces of 

 its box, and retain its grasp while stationary in a wonderful manner. 



