866 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. XVII. 

 Table of Breeding Events. {See Addenda.) 



Identification. — The foregoing remarks on colour should convince one 

 that this will not aid the identification of this snake, especially too when 

 it is a fact that several of the other species of the genus are singularly 

 like some of the many colour varieties of this species. 



There is no single scale characteristic peculiar to this snake upon 

 which to rely in determining its identity, so that a combination of 

 features must be looked for to indicate the species. First of all the 

 rows of scales at midbody must number 19; next 2 supralabial shields 

 must touch the eye ; the anal shield must be divided, and there must 

 be a pair of internasal shields. Should these 4 points co-exist, its 

 identity may be considered established. 



Disposition. — With the exception of the Echis, I think it is the most 

 vicious snake I know. It is ever ready to bite, and strikes with great 

 determination and rapidity, fastening itself with such tenacity that 

 I have known it necessary to prize apart the jaws to disengage its hold. 

 Even hatchlings exhibit this ill-temper, and I remember well on one 

 occasion being bitten several times before I effected the capture of an 

 8-inch baby. (See Addenda.) 



* In epistola. 



t Jourl.,Asiat.8oc, Bengal, Vol. XXXIX, p. 371. 



J " Ceylon," p. 197. 



§ Jourl., Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc, Vol. XVI, p. 516. 



