A POPULAR TREATISE ON THE COMMON INDIAN SNAKES. 67 



Haunts. — The brown Himalayan viper favours an altitude be- 

 tween about 7,000 to 10,000 feet though it wanders higher. Within 

 these limits it is a very common snake, perhaps the most common 

 in the Western Himalayas, but East of Nepal is decidedly uncommon. 

 Mr. G. A. Millar writing to me in 1900, told me that during a 13 

 years' residence in Darjeeling he had only once had this snake 

 brought to him, though he was interested in the collection of snakes 

 now preserved in the museum of St. Joseph's College, and did 

 much to make it what it is. I know of no other authentic record 

 of this viper from this part of the Himalayas (i. e., East of Nepal). 

 Above 10,000 feet the snake becomes increasingly scarcer with the 

 altitude. 1 found it at about 12,000 feet in Kashmir, and a specimen 

 in the Indian Museum was captured at the foot of the Dharmsala 

 glacier at an elevation of 16,000 feet. This is by far the hio-hest 

 altitude I know of for any snake. The only other proximate 

 elevations known to me are 14,000 feet where the snake discovered 

 by Lieut. F. M. Bailey, inhabiting hot springs in Thibet was cap- 

 tured, which I described in this Journal as Tropidonotus baileyi, 

 and 12,500 feet the elevation at which Dr. H. Gadow encountered a 

 rattlesnake in Mexico ( C rot alas triseriatus). I think it is essentially 

 a forest lover, being rarely found away from the protection offered 

 by vegetation. In Kashmir I had no difficulty in finding specimens 

 whenever I instituted a search for them. It very frequently found 

 refuge beneath fallen timbers, so that I had rarely to turn over more 

 than half a dozen logs before flushing one, and I have found two 

 beneath different parts of the same bole. Of course it finds abundant 

 refuge in other situations such as clefts in rocks, or beneath boulders 

 where it is more difficult to dislodge. In Kumaon it frequently takes 

 up quarters in the walls of terraced fields, or gardens where it is a 

 source of special danger to the inquisitive house dog, that will thrust 

 its nose into any cranny where it has discerned a movement. In 

 camp it is by no means an infrequent visitor to one's tent, a fact which 

 places most people on their guard who know Kashmir, and indulge 

 in the gipsy life which is so attractive in that State. 



Habits. — I encountered many in Kashmir when not searchino- tor 

 them. On a warm summer's day it is frequently to be seen coiled up, 

 and basking in lazy enjoyment in the sun. Usually it selects a spot 

 within easy reach of cover, to which it withdraws in a leisurely 



