NOTES. 83 



Ophi dia in the collection of the Colombo Museum. Now, however, 

 thanks to the generosity of Mr. H. M. Drummond Hay, the Museum 

 possesses an example from Balangoda. 



It is a rather small elegant snake banded transversely, some 

 scales having a black margin and pale centre ; and a row of black 

 spots along each side. The total length is nearly 23 inches (the 

 maximum length of the species so far as recorded), of which the 

 tail occupies 4 inches. It is chiefly distinguished from D. 

 ceylonensis (which attains a maximum length of 4 feet) by 

 the different proportions of the head-shields, eyes, and vertebral 

 scales (see text tig.). As in the other species of the genus, the 

 anal shield is entire and the subcaudals are in two rows. 



In girth and general appearance D. ceylonensis is not unlike 

 D. harnesii, but it is a much commoner species, the commonest of 

 the three Ceylonese species of the genus. The Museum collection 

 contains numerous specimens, including a series from Horana 

 presented in 1901 by Mr. G. H. Swayne,* and one from Sigiriya 

 presented this year by Mr. H. C. P. Bell. In D. ceylonensis 

 (which in spite of its name is not confined to Ceylon) there is a 

 well-marked dark brown streak proceeding from the eye to the 

 angle of the mouth ; in the only specimen of D. barnesii1[ which 

 I have seen this streak is not or hardly distinguishable from the 

 general dark ground colour. In both species the scales are in 19 

 rows, this number being constant for the sixteen specimens of 

 D. ceylonensis which I have examined. 



The third species of Dipsas which occurs in Ceylon, D. forstenii, 

 is a much larger snake than the other two, attaining a maximum 

 length of about 5 feet with a girth of 3 to 4 inches. The number 

 of scales round the body varies in different individuals and in 

 different parts of the same individual ; there may be as many as 

 29. There is a dark streak behind the eye resembling that in 

 D. ceylonensis, though broader. The anterior mandibular teeth 

 of D. forstenii are very long, but the disposition of the head- 

 shields is almost identical with that of D. ceylonensis, with the 

 one distinction that the scales in the tempo lal region are more 

 numerous in the former than in the latter. 



This species {D.forsteiiii) is not very common in Ceylon, though 

 not nearly so rarely met with as D. harnesii. In the Museum 

 collection there are specimens recorded from Negombo, Kalutara, 

 and Horana (Swayne coll.) ; and one example with length of 



* The Swaj'ne collection of snakes has not yet been fully worked out. 



t Since the above was written I have discovered a second specimen of 

 D. bar/iesii in a bottle labelled D. ceylo/ie/uis, unfortunately without any 

 locality being given. 



