UFAlVETOKnlY. 301 



r. EADIATUM, Solll. 



Scales kodetl, in 19 rows. Colour pale but rii.'h red brown. Eiliiiid the head 

 four blaek stripes commence abruptly aud taper otf to about the middle of the body. 

 Sides of the body dark slaty, extending to the belly. Beneath tail, yellowish. Grows 

 to 76 inches. 



Inhabits Assam, Pegu, Tenasserim, etc. 



This is the ' rat snake' of Europeans in Burma. ]\rason remarks " The Xarens call 

 it the ' striped squirrel snake,' because they say its markings resemble those of the 

 striped squiirel. One that dropped from the roof of my house into the dining room, 

 on being attacked by a cat, defended itself furiously and came off victorious. I have 

 seen them in the act of swallowing rats twice the circumference of their own bodies." 

 When one of these snakes hiis got into the roof of a house, the fact is often made 

 known by the uneasiness of the rats, who may be seen hurrying backwards and 

 forwards along the beams, often with their young in their mouths, transplanting 

 them from one end of the house to the other, and not unfrequently dropjiing a callow 

 rat, in their haste and fright, on to the table at wliich one may be writing or taking 

 tea. 



Pttas, Fitzinger. 



P. HEXAGONOTus, Cantor. 



Scales smooth, in 17 rows. The vertebral row enlarged. Loreal one. Colour 

 brown above, yellowish below. Grows to 02 inches. 

 Inhabits Arakan and the Malayan Peninsula. 



P. Mucosrs, L. 



Scales in 17 rows, some 7 of which are keeled, and the vortebrals rather enlarged. 

 Three loreals. Colour bro\^^lish olive, the scales dark-edged, especially Ijehind, where 

 the body and tail have in consequence a reticulated ai)pearance. Grows to 91 inches. 



Inhabits all India and Ceylon, the whole of Burma aud its islands, aud the Malayan 

 countries. 



P. KOREOS, Ilein. 



Scales smooth, in 15 rows. Vertebrals not enlarged. Scales faintly keeled 

 posteriorly. Two loreals. Colour the same as the last. Grows to 86 inches. 

 Inhabits Assam, Arakan, Pegu, Tenasserim and the M alayan countries. 



Tropibonotus, Kiihl. 



T. puNCTULATus, Giiuther. 



Scales smooth, in 1 5 rows. Colour very variable. Adult males above dark umher, 

 helow white, the two colours sharply separated. U])per labials white. Adult 

 females light brown, much mottled with yellow, which sometimes predominates. 



Inhabits Pegu. 



T. zEBRijJUs, Blyth. 



Scales smooth, in 15 rows. J^ape black-banded. Colour plumbeous, black-spotted. 

 Sides barred with black bars, and a white spot above. Young only known. 

 Inhabits Mergui. 



T. ANGTJSTicEPS, Blyth. 



Scales keeled, in 17 rows. 8 upper labials. PrfBoculars 2, 3 or 4. Postoculars 

 4 or 5. Colour above plumbeous, uniformly spotted with blaek. Grows to 41 inches. 

 Inhabits Assam and Arakan. 

 T. jiACROP.s, Blyth. 



Scales keeled, in 17 rows. 8 upper labials. 1 prneocular. Colour uniform brown, 

 or with a dorsal series of reddish-brown spots. Neck with an indistinct arrowmark. 

 Belly marked anteriorly with large quadrangular brown spots, posteriorly blended 

 with brown. Neck sometimes greenish, and body with black and yellow reticulations. 

 Grows to 39 inches. 



Inhabits Sikkim, the Khasi Hills, and the Pegu Range west of Toung-ngoo. 



