74 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL F1IST0RY SOCIETY, Vol. XX. 



(Mr. Boulenger says it is cylindrical but this is a mistake.) The tail is 

 short being about one-fifth to one-sixth the total length of the snake. 

 The scales on the back are lustreless and smooth, those on the 

 underparts highly polished. 



Identification. — As far as I am aware it is the only Indian snake 

 that has three pairs of sublingual shields, separated by a longitudinal 

 furrow (the mental groove), but it will be wiser to take in conjunction 

 with this the costal rows which are 19 in midbody. Another unusual 

 feature in lepidosis that I should mention here is that the suture 

 which the lower temporal makes with the penultimate supralabial is 

 decidedly shorter than that made with the antepenultimate. In 

 almost all other snakes where the temporal touches two supralabials the 

 anterior suture is much shorter than the posterior. 



Dimension*. — Adults usually range between about 1 foot 3, and 

 1 foot 9 inches. The largest specimen I have measured was a 9 

 which was 2 feet and f of an inch long. 



Haunts. — It is eminently a forest lover. I have always met 

 with it in jungle, or quite close to jungle, and its sombre colouration 

 must offer it considerable protection in the gloom of such an environ- 

 ment. The area of its distribution*)'* one remarkable for the abun- 

 dance of its forests, and the dearth of anything approaching 

 desert tracts, so that its scientific name " lord of the sands " is un- 

 fortunate. 1 have had several specimens sent to me from tea estates 

 in the Eastern Himalayas and Assam where again there is abundance 

 of cover and shade. Nicholson* mentions having taken one whilst 

 swimming in the Rangoon lake. This was probably an accidental 

 circumstance for it shows no special predilection for an aquatic 

 environment, though like other land snakes it can evidently swim 

 with ease when occasion demands it. It is a much commoner snake 

 in the Hills than in the Plains, and favours especially altitudes be- 

 tween about 3,000 and f>,000 feet. In the Khasi Hilis within these 

 limits I found it quite a common snake, and in the Eastern Himalayas 

 below Darjeeling I have had enough specimens sent me to show 

 that it is to be considered one of the common snakes in this locality. 

 Below 3,000 feet in the same vicinity it is decidedly less common, 

 and Stoliczkaf even records it as a rare snake there. It occurs in the 



* Indian Snakes, p. 131. t Journal, Asiatic Society, Bengal, Vol. XL., p. 422. 



