312 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. XVL 



passed up each limb. The extremities of these organs were not 



surmounted by tentacles, and were therefore unlike what obtains in 



most snakes. 



My notes on this species are too imperfect to quote in extenso, 



but the following abnormalities are worth mention. The prefrontals 



were not in contact with the 2nd labial in 7 specimens, including 4 



specimens of a brood of 4. The 4th labial did not touch the eye in 



7 specimens, including 3 of a brood of 6. The prseoculars were 2 



in 2 specimens of a brood of 4. The 1st and 2nd labials were confluent 



in 3 specimens of a brood of 9. The postoculars were 2 in 2 female 



specimens and in 7 males. It is curious that in the brood of 9 all 



the males had 2 postoculars, and all the females only 1. In the 



brood of 6 the same was observed. The frequency of the same 



abnormality in the same brood suggests its inheritance from one or other 



parent. 



Sub-family ELAPINAE. 



Bungarus candidus. 



Called " valla pamboo " in this locality. " Valla " I am told means 



" bangle. " Males were much more numerous than females. The 



colour of the hatchling was unlike the adult?, the white arches being 



exceptionally distinct. There were 30 distinct linear arches on the 



body arranged in pairs, and 9 on the tail. Anterior to these were 3 



broad white bars involving 2 scales vertebrally, and evidently occasioned 



by a confluence of a pair of the arches which subsequently occurred 



as discrete lines. The intervals between the most anterior bars involved 



12-13 scales vertebrally. They gradually shortened to implicate 6-8 



scales in the back part of the body between each pair. An ill-defined, 



but very distinct, white oblique streak occupied the temporal region. 



I kept two alive for a few days ; both I believe must have been 



injured. They frequently used to nibble one another in a playful 



way, opening their jaws and shifting their grasp along each other's 



bodies as though selecting a suitable spot in which to bury their fangs. 



I could not through the glass of their cage discover any wounds as a 



result, but the younger died the day after my witnessing this somewhat 



dubious playfulness on the part of the larger snake. Their lengths 



were 2 feet 10 inches and 1 foot 7^ inches. 



In all the specimens the scales were alike, viz., 2 heads lengths behind 



the head 15 ; midbody 15 ; 2 heads lengths in front of the vent 15. 



