188 REPTILES. 



REPTILES. 



Note. — The books consulted for this paper are Giinther's " Eeptiles of Britisli India " 

 and the "Eeptilia and Batraohia of British LjJia," by Boulensjer. 



I do not think there are either tortoises or turtles found in Independent Sikhim, although 

 at least one tortoise is found in the Terai. If any are found in Inde- 

 pendent Sikhim, they should precede the lizards in the order as above. 



J. Gamjiie— 30-8-91. 



Ten species of lizards are recorded from Sikhim, five of which are 

 skinks ; one is a gecko or wall-Hzard ; one gho- 

 "^ '^^ samp ; the common bloodsucker ; Japalum vuricgata, 



which is popularly known by the European visitors as the chame- 

 leon on account of its rather showy colours, but does not belong to 

 that family; and a beautiful glass-snake [Ophisaurus c/racilis) which, 

 as it is limbless, is often mistaken for a true snake, but can be readily 

 recognized as belonging not to the snake but to the lizard family by 

 the presence of eyelids. The gho-samp is the only large member 

 of the family in Sikhim. It grows to a length of 4 feet. Its flesh is 

 eaten by the natives and considered a delicacy. 



The common cobra {Naia tripudians) is not uncommon. It 

 keeps chiefly to the warmer slopes under 4,000 feet, but has been 

 taken as high as 8,000. The ordinary length of an adult is five 

 feet, but individuals of over six feet are occasionally killed. The 

 species is variable in colour, but the Sikhim variety is usually of a 

 uniform brownish-olive above, with a large ocellus, edged and centred 

 with black, on the dilatable neck: beneath, for a few inches from 

 the chin it is whitish crossed by a broad black band, and the rest of 

 the lower parts black. Naia hunfjariis (the giant cobra) is also found 

 in the lower valleys, but seldom ascends above 4,000 feet. It 

 feeds mostly on other snakes, and grows to a length of 12 or 13 feet, 

 of which the tail is 2^ feet. In colour the adult is of a uniform 

 brownish-black with indistinct darker cross bands, but the young 

 is much more gaily coloured, being jet black, beautifully ringed, 

 from the snout to the tip of the tail, with white bands of about 

 a quarter of an inch or more in breadth, the intei'vening black 

 spaces being three or four times as broad. One of the pit-vipers 

 (Ancistrodon hmahit/anns) is rare in Sikhim, and occurs between 

 5.000 and 10,000 feet. It is brown, spotted or banded with black, 

 and grows to nearly 3 feet in length. The other three pit-vipers 

 belong to the genus Trimercsunts, and are of repulsive aspect, 

 having short tails and triangular shaped heads which are covered 

 with numerous small scales instead of a few large shields as in 



