ON THE COMMON INDIAN SNAKES. 549 



and restored it to its box. The next da}- it repeated the same per- 

 formance with a similar climax. Such determination and courage in 

 so small a creature are worthy of the greatest admiration. 



Its attitude before striking is very similar to that displayed by 

 the pit vipers Lachesis gramineus and L. anamallensis. I have tried 

 to show this in the accompanying diagrams. 



Food. — Like other ophidians the Gamma snake takes almost any- 

 thing it can get, but it shows a strong partiality in its natural haunts 

 for lizards, especially those of the genus Calotes and other Agamoid 

 forms. Gunther* says it feeds on mice, hut J have known it do so on 

 only one occasion. In captivity Mr. Millard tells me "it feeds freely 

 on small birds, lizards, and mammals, killing them by constriction in 

 the same manner as the Python." It would appear to be capable of 

 utilising its tail to some purpose in the same direction, for Russell f 

 relates the following experience : — " In the month of December, a 

 vigorous subject of this species was made to bite a chicken which he 

 did very fiercely and repeatedly in different parts * * *. The 

 chicken at first fluttered, and screamed with pain, but soon became 

 quiet. In about half a minute, greatly to my surprise, she let fall 

 her head, and shut her eves as if dead. The position of the wino- 

 prevented the cause of this being at first discovered. The snake 

 imperceivedly had wreathed its tail round the chicken's neck, and 

 the bird, had it not been rescued, would inevitably have been 

 strangled. Soon after being disengaged, it recovered perfectly." 



Distribution. — (a) Geographical. — The distribution of this species is 

 very similar to that of the Echis, as will be seen by the accompanying 

 map. In India it will be noted that it inhabits that little tract of 

 territory on the Malabar Coast in which the Echis appears to be 

 absent, and also extends to the north of the river Ganges unlike 

 Echis. It probably reaches the base of the Eastern Himalayas, but 

 its exact limits to the East beyond Assam are unknown. AndersonJ 

 records it from Assam and the Naga Hills, and there are two speci- 

 mens in the Indian Museum from the Khasi Hills (Shillong). 

 Compared with the range of Echis its more extensive eastern 

 distribution is compensated for by a more restricted habitat to the 

 west. In the Mediterranean sub-region it extends like Echis into 

 Transcaspia, but its limits to the west are doubtful. I can find no 



*Kept. Brit. Ind., 1864, p. 312. t hid. Serp., Vol. 1, p. 21. 



J Joui-1. Asiatic Soc.. Bengal, Vol. XL., p. 35. 

 4 



