A POPULAR TREATISE ON INDIAN SNAKES. 553 



A.s it stands now h'6 includes under the same title the albolalris, elegans, 

 and tiridis of Gray ; the gramineus, and erythrurus, of Giinther, Cantor, 

 and Theobald ; and the gramineus, erythrurus, and mutabilis of 

 Stoliczka. 



2. The shape of the head is variable. There are two distinct forms. 

 In one the broadest part is at a point close behind the eyes, behind which 

 it decreases so as to resemble the shape in the genus Dipsadomorphus. 

 This form is shown in our plate. In the other the greatest breadth is 

 at the angles of the jaws, the head then exhibiting that triangular 

 shftpe which is popularly considered characteristic of a poisonous snake. 

 There is no greater fallacy than to suppose a poisonous snake can be 

 recognised by the shape of its head. 



3. In the Andamans and Nicobars a very distinct variety occurs, 

 in which the prevailing colour is brown. In some of these the hue is 

 uniform, in others it is variously mottled, spotted, or barred with darker 

 or lighter shades. In this locality the brown specimens are more 

 plentiful than the green. 



4. Though these remarks are true of the uniform green specimens, 

 some modification is required to include all the colour varieties, and 

 makes the recognition of the species much more complicated. The 

 following points must coexist: — (1) Head covered with small scales 

 throughout ; (2) Scales in 19 to 23 rows in the middle of the body ; (3) 

 Supraocular undivided ; (4) Presence of subocular ; (5) 9 to 12 suprala- 

 bials, of which the second in its upper half is furrowed into the loreal pit. 



5. Father Dreckman once captured a female specimen, which gave 

 birth to seven young, while he held her in his grasp. This is the only 

 authentic record I know of to prove that this species is viviparous. One 

 youngster of the brood I examined measured 9^ inches. 



6. Mr. Thurston, the Superintendent of the Madras Museum, tells 

 me that he once received a specimen from Kellakota in the Nilgiri Hills. 



7. I have since received a specimen 6 feet and § an inch in lenath. 

 I may here remark that the figure of this snake by Frohawk 



in the Encyclopaedia Brittanica : and that by Smit in the Fauna of 

 British India, Reptilia, Boulenger, 1890, are to my mind purely fanciful 

 and inaccurate. The snake does not wrap itself round branches in the 

 intricate fashion depicted, at least not in a state of nature. I verv 

 much suspect these drawings wore made from museum specimens and 

 arranged thus by the artists who had never seen them in life. 



