100 SPOLIA ZEYLANICA. 



yarn might be explained by the possibility that the snake com- 

 municated some secretion from the parietal gland of a toad with 

 which it had recently had an encounter. 



M. plumbicolor appears to be fairly common on the patana around 

 Diyatalawa. 



Naja tripvdians. 



On September 21 a native brought along a cobra which had been 

 killed in the camp. Its length was 29J inches + 6 inches. On dis- 

 section its stomach was found to contain a frog. The head scales 

 were quite normal. 



On October 4 another example (31 inches long) was killed in the 

 Naval camp. 



Probably the cobra is fairly common at Diyatalawa, but not often 

 identified as such. A planter, resident in the neighbourhood, who 

 saw the first-mentioned specimen when it was brought in was 

 positive that it was " only a rat-snake," because the hood was not 

 expanded. 



Vipera russellii. 



In spite of the local inhabitants' assertions to the contrary, the 

 " tic-polonga " appears to be quite a common snake at Diyatalawa. 



(1) On August 21 an example about 3 feet long was brought in 

 by the natives. 



(2) On September 4 a baby specimen, only 9| inches long, was 

 caught near the Railway station. Even at this early stage the fangs 

 are well developed, and there is a reserve fang almost as large as the 

 first one. 



(3) On the evening of September 12, when it was getting dark, 

 my companion, who was walking just in front of me on our way back 

 to the camp, stepped right over an individual which was lying on 

 the path? Luckily for him it had just swallowed a shrewmouse, 

 and so was too torpid to strike at him. It measured 16| inches 

 + 2| inches. 



(4) On September 20 one of our men (W. Humphreys, able 

 seaman) brought along the skin of a Russell's viper which he had 

 just killed close to the camp. This specimen was a female, about 

 forty inches long, and in skinning it he had removed twelve fully- 

 formed young ones in utero. Each foetus was enclosed in a roughly 

 oval membranous packet about 43 mm. long by 20 mm. broad, the 

 membrane being liberally supplied with blood vessels filled with red 

 blood. Nearly half of the packet was filled with a glairy opaque 

 whitish albuminous matter ; in the other half the young viper was 

 coiled up. the tail in the middle of the coil, ventral surface of tail 

 next enveloping membrane ; further up the body took a half turn, 

 and the dorsal surface was appressed to the membrane ; the head 



I 



