THE COMMON INDIAN SNAKES. 35 



with crossbars, spotted or variegated with black and brown on a 

 whitish ground. These bars are most conspicuous anteriorly and 

 gradually disappear before, at, or at some distance behind the middle 

 of the body. They become increasingly obscure as age advances, 

 and some old specimens are nearly uniform in colour. The head is 

 usually uniform olivaceous, and without any markings, but a young 

 specimen of mine in Fj'zabad was marbled with lighter hues. The 

 belly is uniformly whitish, or yellowish. In my young specimen 

 it was greenish-yellow. 



General characters. — The head is of moderate length and width. 

 The upper jaw projects rather prominently, and is sometimes rather 

 parrot-like. A " canthus rostralis " is moderately evident. The 

 nostril is of fair size, and occupies the upper two-thirds of the 

 suture between the nasal shields. The eye is about half the length 

 of the snout, and its round pupil easily discerned in life. A neck is 

 fairly evident. The body is round, moderately long and smooth, 

 and the tail is slender in form, and accounts for one-fourth to one- 

 fifth the length of the snake. 



Identification. — In many respects it is very like Hodgson's rat- 

 snake (Coluber hodgsoni), a Himalayan species. It bears a super- 

 ficial resemblance to Cantor's rat-snake (Coluber cantoris), another 

 Himalayan form, and some other species of Zamenis and Coluber 

 as well as the cobra. It is best recognised by attention to its scale 

 rows first. These are usually 21 at a point two headslengths behind 

 the head, 23 in midbody, and 17 two headslengths before the vent. 

 Added to this the anal shield is divided ; the supralabials are 8, 

 the divided 3rd with the 4th and 5th, or the divided 4th with the 

 5th and 6th touching the eye ; and the pneocular touches the frontal 

 shield. 



Length. — It grows to upwards of three feet. The largest I have 

 examined measured 4 feet 2^ inches. 



Disposition. — It appears to be a plucky and vicious snake 

 when molested. The few comments in this direction to be found in 

 the literature on the species are in agreement. Stoliczka says it is 

 rather a fierce snake when molested, and Blanford speaking of a 

 specimen he encountered says, though young, it was one of the 

 fiercest snakes he ever captured. The only specimen I have ever seen 

 alive, probably a hatchling, was remarkably active and plucky. 

 I understand from Mr. Millard, who is very familiar with it, that it 

 is on account of its habit of flattening its body and a general 

 resemblance in colour and appearance to a small cobra when moving 

 that the Konkani natives so frequently declare it is a female cobra. 

 My young specimen gave me a lively exhibition of its cobra-like 

 behaviour. It erected itself probably as high relatively as a cobra 

 would do, and flattened itself very remarkably. 



Habits. — I believe it frequents jungly tracts chiefly, but will stray 



