14 JOURN AT, NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY OF SIAM. Vol. I. 
Oolor (in life). When first caught it is usually not sufficient- 
ly clean to make out any definite markings, but the actual coloration 
(after washing ) will be found to be as follows. Above, dull brown 
or greyish brown, paler below, and “with a line of dark, circular or 
or oblong blotches on either flank, These markings, the great girth, 
and the loose, baggy skin covered with tubercles, instead of scales, 
serve to distinguish this species quite easily from all others. Its title 
of the Mlephant’s Trunk Snake is a very appropriate one. 
Ifabitat. Siam and the Malay Peninsula, Java and New 
Gninea. 
8. Chersydrus qranulatus. Closely allied to the preceding, but 
much smaller.\ Flower in his list mentions a specimen which was in the 
Museum during his time and was labelled “ Bangkok.” This snake 
is an inhabitant of river mouths and the adjacent sea-coasts. It is 
common at Tacheen where it is often caught with the fish at the 
stakes. It 1s not unlikely therefore that one may occasionally be 
carried up here by some unusually high tide or upon some fishing 
boat. It can, however, only be looked upon as an accidental visitor. 
Subfamily CoLusripar. 
9, Troidonotus piscator. 
Siamese 1 01% @Q (ngu lai saw). Very common in Bangkok, 
being plentiful everywhere, especially in the padi-fields during the wet 
weather. It is far and away the commonest snake that is met with 
When out snipe shooting. During the hot weather it is not much in 
evidence, confining itself to the banks of klongs and pools; but with 
the advent of the rains and consequent flooding of the fields it roams 
about ail over the country, finding everywhere abundance of its favour- 
ite food-—frogs and fish. It makes no attempt to kill its prey, but 
proceeds at once to swallow it aliveand the pitiful cries of the frog 
as it is slowly engulphed must be well known to everyone who has 
spent much time in the fields.? Fish it will devour with great 
voracity, and in the small puddles that form as the ground dries up 
and where the fish get herded together, it may be found making huge 
* This procedure may seem extren ely cruel, but, after all, Nature 
has not provided the snake with any other means of disposing of its prey. 
