142 JOURNAL, liOyiBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXI. 



No specimen was gravid, but it is probable that the deposition of eggs took 

 place during the months that I -was away in the sanatarium at Madaglasht. 



Most specimens were of rather a light shade of brown, but one was 

 quite uniform black, the skin and scales alike. There was no suspicion of 

 banding, and no hood marks. 



ViPERID.E. 



Ancistrodon himalayanus (Giinther) . 



At 10,000 feet, up to 12,000 feet, I found this species as common as it is 

 in other parts of the Western Himalayas. I do not think it has been 

 recorded before west of the Eiver Indus. I collected 33 specimens 

 between June and September, 19 of which were S S , and 14$ 5 ■ 



In my article on this snake in this Journal (Vol. XX, p. 65, et seq.) I 

 remarked upon its very quiet disposition. The many living specimens 

 I had in Chitral, some of which I had for weeks in captivity, serve to 

 confirm my previous observations on its timidity. I encountered several 

 in my walks abroad, and picked them up without one attempting to bite 

 me. I played with several, trying to irritate them to bite, but to no 

 purpose. It sometimes under irritation rubs one coil upon another in a 

 restless fashion, reminding one of the characteristic motion elicited by the 

 saw-scaled viper {Echis carinata) . More rarely it agitated the tail tip as a 

 demonstration of excitement. 



It is difficult to see, when not in motion, its sombre hues haimouising very 

 closely with those of its favorite bed, the needles ;of the various conifers 

 that flourish about Madaglasht, the commonest of which is the spruce {Picea 

 morinda). The silver fir {Abies webhiana) and the deodar {Cedms lebani var. 



