POPULAR TREATISE ON COMMON INDIAN SNAKES. -J89 



reptile thoroughly scared added to my difficulty by its agile move- 

 ments. When at length it was wounded I would not pronounce upon 

 its identity by lamp light, the gloss on its scales making their detail 

 uncertain, but I felt sure I had been dealing with a krait until the 

 morning light showed me mistaken. 



Disposition. — My knowledge of this species is so limited that I 

 cannot speak of its disposition, habits, food or breeding. The smallest 

 specimen I know of is one mentioned by Giinther which was 6£ inches 

 (75 lines) and I should think probably a hatchling. 



Distribution, (a) Geographical. — South India, Orissa, and Ceylon. 

 All the British Museum specimens are from Ceylon and South India. 

 Jerdon speaks of it from Madras, Ferguson from Travancore and I 

 have had two specimens from Orissa (liumbha and Berhampore), two 

 from Trichinopoly, and one from Madras. The exact localities in 

 Ceylon of the British Museum specimens except Trincomalee are not 

 noted. Haly* says that 5 specimens in the Colombo Museum are from 

 Jaffna, and Willey f only mentions Jaffna and Anuradapura. 

 Ferguson| speaks of one from the South part of the Island without 

 specifying further. This is in the British Museum now, viz., specimen 

 T of Boulenger's Catalogue (Vol. 1, p. 371). 



(b) Local. — Appears to be chiefly a snake of the Plains, but there 

 are British Museum specimens from the Nallymally, Balaranoam, 

 and Cuddapah Hills, altitudes not recorded. 



(<;) Numerical. — I would call it rather an uncommon snake in 

 India, having only collected 5 specimens. Ferguson mentions but 

 two specimens in the large collection at Travancore. Jerdon, however 

 says it is not rare at Madras. 



Lepidosis. Rostral. — Touches G shields, the rostro-internasal sutures 

 rather longer than the rostro-nasal. Intemasals. — Two; the suture 

 between them about three-fourths to equal to that between the pre- 

 frontal fellows, about half or less than half the internaso-pra3frontal 

 sutures. Prefrontals. — Two; the suture between them subequal to 

 or rather greater than the prcefronto-frontal; in contact with the 

 internasal, postnasal, loreal, one or two praeoculars, and supraocular. 

 Frontal. — Touches t> shields ; the supraocular sutures longest, twice or 

 nearly twice the parietals which are rather the smallest. Supra- 



* First report, Snakes, Colombo, Juae 188(3, p. 10. 



f Spol. Zeylan, April 190G, p. 233. j Kept. Fauna, Ceylon, 1877, p. 19. 



