MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. 411 



No. III.— NOTES ON 26 SPECIMENS OF THE POHUR, OR 

 HIMALAYAN VIPER (ANCISTRODON HIMALAYAN US). 

 During my two months leave in Cashmere (Jukc and Julyj, I had the good 

 fortune to obtain thirty-nine specimens of the Ancistrodon himalayanus 

 all captured in the Lidda Valley around Pahlgam at an altitude of 

 7,500 ft. 

 This snake is exceedingly common here, where it is called by the Cash- 



merees "pohur, '' and is report- 

 ed by them to be very fatal, not 

 that native evidence in this 

 direction is of much value. 

 The poison fang is well deve- 

 loped, and enjoys a good range 

 of movement, about 90 degrees, 

 but the poison gland is very 

 small. 



Most of the specimens were broug-ht to me by natives, thirteen in such a 

 state of mutilation that I took no notes upon them. A few were, however, 



found and captured unhurt by me. The 

 following characteristics I was able to 

 glean of their habits, &c : — 



Like many of the snates in tem- 

 perate climates, they enjoy bas'-ing in 

 the general warmth of the sun, lying 

 out on the grassy slopes or in the sunny patches of the chequered sylvan 

 shade. When disturbed, they move cautiously, and not over-quicbly, to the 

 nearest cover, long grass, a bush, or beneath holes or rocky recesses. 



In the evening they retire to these haunts, and apparently do not inhabit 

 holes in the earth in these situations. 



Their movements in locomotion and when on the defensive are compara- 

 tively sluggish, and they avoid, rather than strike at, a stick or 

 other menacing agent until repeated molestation. One peculiar characteristic 

 which fascinated me considerably, and which I observed in all my living 

 specimens, and which I pointed out to several of my friends camping around, 

 is the way that this species, whan molested, coil themselves ready for defence 

 and vibrate their tails vigorously. This is very interesting when one considers 

 that this species belongs to the rattle-snake subfamily, not that this behaviour 

 would appear limited to the " CrotoZiwce, " for I have noted tLis in at least 

 one specimen of Tropidonotus stolatus, and others have recorded similar 

 instances occasionally regarding species outside this subfamily. 



Many of my specimens were pregnant females, and I found usually five to 

 seven eggs in various stages of maturity. The more highly developed showed 

 on their dorsal aspects a transparent window (part of the egg envelope) cover- 



