THE POISONOUS SNAKES OF INDIA. 05 



Colour. — Uniform glistening black. 



Bungarus ceylonicus — The Ceylon Krait. 



Identification. — The habitat alone will suffice to declare its identity. 

 It is the only krait found in that island. 



Supplementary characters. — The vertebral row is unusually large, 

 the breadth of the scales considerably exceeds the length, and in this 

 respect it almost compares with B.fasciatus. 



Distribution. — Peculiar to Ceylon. 



Poison. — I can find no allusion to the effects of its poison. 



Dimensions. — Grows to 3 feet, and over. 



Colour. — Glistening black with white cross bars. 



Bungarus Candidas — The Common Krait. 



(Synonyms — B. cceruleus and B. arcuatus.) 



The "Karat" and " Dhomum chitti " or "chitti" of Bengal. 

 " Valla pamboo " of Malabar. " Kattoo virian " and " Anali" of Madras. 

 The " Godi nagera" of Mysore according to Rice, and the "Gedi 

 paragoodoo" and "Pakta poola" of the Coromandel Coast (Russell). 



Identification. — The colour, habitat, and the fact that all the shields 

 beneath the tail are entire suffice to declare its identity (see fig. 9 B). 

 One important feature for those to note who in spite of all precautions 

 persist in trying to identify their specimens by colour and markings 

 instead of by conformation and relationship of shields, is the fact that in 

 all the snakes which resemble this species in colour, viz., Lycodon aulicus 

 (certain varieties), L. striatus, and L. jara, together with Dryocalamus 

 nympha, D. gracilis, and D. davisonii, the white cross bars are most 

 evident in the anterior part of the body, and gradually fade posteriorly 

 till they are often lost. It is characteristic of the krait, however, at 

 least the com :i, on Indian colour variety, that the white bars are most 

 distinct posteriorly, and fade away anteriorly, — in fact, the anterior 

 one-third or one-half of the body is frequently without marks in adults. 



Supplementary characters. — In the vertebral row the scales are about 

 as broad as long in the middle of the body (see fig. 3). 



Distribution. — It ranges throughout the Indian Peninsula from Cape 

 Comorin to the Himalayas. On the west it extends into Sind, and on 

 the east through Burma into the Malayan region. It is not found in 

 Ceylon. East of Calcutta it is uncommon, but in the Indian Peninsula 

 it is almost everywhere an abundant species. It prefers the plains, but 

 has been found in hilly regions up to 4,000 feet. 



