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



preserving the body in spirits or formalin as well as the dried skin, in order 

 that its anatomical characters may be investigated. 



E. COMBER, F.Z.S. 

 Bombay, 22nd October, 1904. 



No. Ill— SIMOTES SPLENDIDUS. 

 In Volume XIII, page 537, " Miscellaneous Notes," is published a note by 

 Captain Wall and myself " On the occurrence of S. splendidus in Burma or a pro- 

 bable new species." The specimen was a peculiar one, in that there were four 

 prefrontals as well as internasals, and we were inclined to consider it an abnor- 

 mal splendidus or a new species. I have now no doubt as to its being the former. 

 I have since seen two specimens of this snake, evidently rare, as the descrip- 

 tion in Boulenger's work " Reptilia and Batrachia " is from the single speci- 

 men at that time known. It certainly is a very rare reptile here. 



All three specimens are from Upper Burma, viz., Sagaing, Ruby Mines and 

 Yamethin districts. In the two specimens above referred to — one young, the 

 other an adult — the internasals are four in number, and the arrangement is as 

 before described, i.e., the median pair small and projecting back to the pre- 

 frontals. The prefrontals are in each specimen two. 

 In the young specimen the — 



Ventrals are .,.. 174. 



Subcaudals ... 35-37? 



Scales ... 21. 



Length ... ll£" 



Tail ... If" 



As regards colouring, it agrees with that given by Boulenger except that the 

 indentation in the spots before and behind are not as pronounced in the young 

 as in the adult, and I cannot discern the faintest trace of a yellowish median 

 line. There are 17 spots on the body and 3 on the tail. 



On the 23rd October while returning to camp along a ridge, perhaps a 1,000 ft. 

 elevation, I noticed, lying at full length and motionless on my path, a Simotes 

 which I thought from the previous specimens must be a splendidus. It had 

 recently sloughed and was indeed most beautifully marked. It made no 

 attempt to move, though there was long grass a foot distant, until I struck it, 

 when it dilated its neck in the manner some specimens of T. stolatus or T. 

 jriscator do when irritated, and hissed quite audibly, so much so that my tracker 

 remarked it was like a Mwe-bwe (Russell's Viper), but not so loud. When I 

 placed the stick close to its head, it struck. On arrival in camp the Burmans 

 declared it was a very young python, no doubt owing to the beautiful marking. 



Ventrals ... 175. 



Subcaudals ... 43. 



Scales ... 21. 



Length ... 28f* 



Tad ... 4" 



There are 16 spots on the body and 4 on the tail. 



Geo. H. EVANS, A.V.D., F.L.S., Majok. 

 Rangoon, November, 1904. 



