A FOPULAR TREATISE ON INDIAN SNAKES. 545 



a normal green. I procured one such specimen some years ago in 

 Trichinopoly. 



Identification. — This snake belongs to a genus comprising six mem- 

 bers, all bearing singularly pronounced features which readily distinguish 

 them from all other snakes. Of these it is only necessary here to 

 mention the pupil, which is horizontal in direction. 



A fleshy elongated nasal appendage . is peculiar to two only of the 

 six, viz., B. mycterizans and D. pulverulentus, and these are easily 

 distinguished. The former is a common snake widely distributed, 

 green with very rare exceptions, and marked with a white or yellow 

 flank line always ; whereas the latter is a rare snake peculiar to Ceylon 

 and the Anamallay Hills in Southern India, brown in color, and with 

 no flank line. To sum up, any snake with a horizontal pupil, an 

 elongated fleshy appendage at tip of snout, and a white or yellow 

 flank line must be Dryophis mycterizans. 



Habits — Haunts. — It may be met with in high grass, but far more 

 frequently on bushes, and will climb occasionally to a considerable 

 height. I have known toddy collectors encounter it among the foliage 

 of lofty cocoanut trees in Colombo on more than one occasion. 



Disposition. — It is commonly reputed to be a very gentle snake 

 (Boulenger, Flower, etc.,) and Mr. Ferguson* implies the same thing 

 when he says that in Travancore it is the only snake the ordinary 

 native is not afraid to handle. His next sentence, however, runs as 

 follows : " Boys often bring them in, having first taken the precaution 

 to tie up the head in a bundle of rags," and my experience compels 

 me to think that the boys fully understand the vicious nature of this 

 creature. I am very familiar with this snake, and have at the present 

 time nearly one dozen specimens in captivity. It is very frequently 

 brought in to me alive, and in the manner described by Mr. Ferguson. 

 I do not find it, when freshly caught, at all the gentle, docile 

 creature I have been taught to believe. When moderately alarmed 

 it emits the tongue (which is a pale yellowish or pinkish organ) 

 with closed jaws, keeping it out for a second or two or longer. If 

 watched closely the two points are often seen to vibrate tremu- 

 lously. The tongue is rarely protruded, and retracted repeatedly in the 

 manner so common in other snakes. Whilst the tongue is maintained 

 rigidly protruded in a forward direction the snake rears its head and 



* Bom, Nat. Hist. Journ., Vol. X., p. 6. 



