POPULAR TREATISE ON THE COMMON INDIAN SNAKES. T 



Ureckman tells me that he thinks it is one of the most vicious 

 members of all snakedom, read}'' to snap at anything at a moment's 

 notice. He was bitten by the first snake that he ever encountered' 

 in this country which happened to be a conicus. Dr. Henderson 

 says that in his experience it is a sluggish snake, but occasionally 

 it strikes out fiercely when irritated. Mr. D'Abreu tells me he 

 kept a pair for a long time. He says when first captured it is very 

 fierce, biting readily when touched, but after a little handling 

 it gets quite tame, and never bites no matter how much it is 

 handled. Oertainlj^ the specimens which accompany many jug- 

 glers allow themselves to be handled without betraying any malice. 

 I have known some specimens when irritated, sulk in a most 

 determined manner, remaining quite motionless, and refusing to 

 offer any malice. Sometimes indeed it hides its head beneath 

 its body, and remains so for many minutes. It will often 

 flatten its body to the ground when alarmed, like many other 

 snakes do. 



Habits. — Whether this snake is in the main nocturnal I do not 

 know. At any rate it is very frequently abroad by daylight, and 

 even in the midday glare of the hot weaither, frequently establishes 

 itself beneath trees in S. India where it lurks for the purpose of 

 catching the squirrels (Funmnhulus palmarum') when they descend. 

 With this object I believe it partially buries itself, and patiently 

 awaits the chance of a squirrel coming within reach, and the chances 

 are not so remote as one might imagine who does not know Southern 

 India, for the squirrels there almost amount to a pest. They are 

 always on the move, and frequently descend, and wander about 

 beneath the trees. In this connection I believe whatever the 

 original function of the keels on the scales of snakes and lizards 

 may have been, that they are of material advantage to a snake 

 like Eryx conicus, for they undoubtedly assist its efiectual conceal- 

 ment. As the snake noses its way through the surface soil, the 

 particles of earth lodge in the grooves formed between the keels 

 on its back and serve to conceal its serpentine form. Were the 

 body smooth the particles would roll ofi", and expose more or less 

 of the snakes body, unless buried so deeply as to hamper its 

 movements when the quarry came within reach. This function; 



