FAUNA AND FLORA, RATBURI, PETCHABURI. 137 
only heard it at elevations of 1000 metres or more. A Davison’s Barbet 
(Cyanops davisont) was obtained with three young, in a hole at the top 
of a dead stump. All the barbets are bad sleepers, and throughout the 
night in jungle country, whether camping in valley or mountain top, 
one hears their monotonous call. 
At this high elevation a brilliantly coloured snake was found, 
possibly Doliophis bivurgatus. The snake, some 4 feet long, was azure- 
blue covered with small white spots, the whole head and last 6 inches 
of the tail being a brilliant red, glistening as though painted with 
enamel. In July my coolies met and described to me a similar snake, 
tuund at some 800 metres elevation, 
Working on this 1200 metre ridge, two species of Horse Fly 
(Tabanus rubidus and T. striatus) were very troublesome, in addition 
to hundreds and thousands of thirsty bees of five different sizes which, 
during the hot season, are always attracted to freshly felled spots, and 
hinder one’s work by entering eyes, ears, and nose, swarming on the 
hands and exploring up one’s sleeves in their search for moisture. Fre- 
quently they become so bad as to necessitate smoke fires. Fortunately 
only two of the larger species of bee sting. The largest, with a buff 
band round the body, constructs big half-circular nests beneath the 
horizontal limbs of a smooth backed species of Ficus, or beneath an 
overhanging rock on a cliff face. This species is widely distributed 
and I saw a nest in course of making beneath an arch at the Colombo 
Museun. 
While on the subject of thirsty insects, it may be of interest to 
mention that certain Skipper and Fritillary butterflies have the 
power of exuding drops of water to moisten surfaces on which they 
wish to feed, and I think this must be a peculiarity of tropical butter- 
flies, as I certainly never noticed or heard of it in Europe. On one 
occasion a Skipper exuded five drops of water within the space 
of two minutes on the back of my hand, dabbling his trunk in the 
drop between his hind legs until finished, when he repeated the process. 
The drops were of large size and the five together would apparently 
equal the bulk of the insect’s body. I have seen them do the same 
thing on a chair or table in camp. 
When ascending to this camp on the 28th Mech, we experienced 
torrential rain, and on the 3lst the camp was enveloped in cloud. 
Descending on the 1st April, we found the rains and floods had brought 
