82 A NATURALIST IN BORNEO 



its ventral surface so as to become very concave. It 

 is interesting to find confirmation of the " flying " habit 

 in snakes from other observers. Captain Flower x reports 

 having seen a small specimen of Chrysopelea ornata 

 "take a flying leap, from an upstairs window, down- 

 ward and outward on to a branch of a tree and then 

 crawl away among the foliage. The distance it had 

 jumped was measured and found to be nearly 8 feet." 

 Mahon Daly, 2 writing from Siam, says that he and a 

 Kareen interpreter " saw a snake, about i\ feet long, 

 sail from a very high tree on one side of the road to 

 a lower one the opposite side." 



Chrysopelea ornata has a wide distribution, ranging 

 from India to the Malay Archipelago and Southern 

 China, and Mr. G. A. Boulenger, F.R.S., informs me 

 that more than once he has received specimens at the 

 British Museum from various parts of its range with 

 the note that the specimens had the reputation of 

 being able to " fly." More than one writer waxes very 

 enthusiastic over the agility and activity of this snake, 

 and it certainly is a very beautiful creature. It is 

 variable in colour, but the commonest variety is black 

 above, each scale with a round greenish-yellow spot 

 and a series of coral-red spots along the back each 

 of these spots like a tiny four-petalled flower in shape ; 

 the ventral scales are green, edged with black. Its 

 congener, C. chrysochlora, is also a handsome species. 



These snakes prey for the most part on tree-haunting 

 lizards, but one has been reported to have eaten a bat. 



Green is a colour that, as might be expected, is 

 characteristic of tree-haunting snakes, and three 



' P.Z.S., 1899, p. 684. 



3 Journ. Bombay N.H. Soc., XII. (1898-99), p. 589. 



