THE COMMON INDIAN SNAKES. 759 



these papers, but is so common within that area that it deserves 

 mention in the series. It inhabits the Assam Hills and plains 

 ranging North into the Eastern Himalayas, and East to the con- 

 terminous ranges bounding the North and West of Burma, i.e., the 

 Kachin Hills, Manipur Hills, Chin Hills and Arakan Yomas. Its 

 probable Western limits are the Teesta and Brahmaputra Rivers. 

 The exact localities knov^^n to me are given in the accompanying 

 map, but I have not been able to include the many places referred 

 to in Sclater's list of the snakes in the Indian Museum, as it is 

 impossible to tell from this list what are specimens of true 

 alhocinctus and what may be juglandifer. 



It appears to be a Hill snake, at any rate it is much commoner 

 in most of the Hills within its habitat than it is in any part of 

 the plains. In the Eastern Himalayas it is a very common snake 

 between the plains and 5,000 feet elevation, but, although Mr. 

 D'Abreu got one in Kurseong at 6,000 feet, it rarely ascends to 

 to this altitude. At Buxa Dooars (1,200 to 1,500 feet) I found 

 four specimens in a collection of twenty-two. Mr. Jacob has col- 

 lected several in the plains at about the 350 feet elevation in the 

 Jalpaiguri District. It was not a common snake about Dibrugarh 

 but I got a few there. It is known from the Khasi Hills, but out 

 of 335 snakes collected in Shillong at 4,900 feet I failed to get 

 one specimen. In the Chin Hills Mr. Venning has met with it 

 up to 6,500 feet. 



Lepidosis. — Rostral. — Touches 6 shields, the internasal sutures 

 are equal to or rather longer than the anterior nasals ; visible 

 portion above equals, or nearly equals its distance to the frontal. 

 Internasals. — A pair, the suture between them equals or nearly 

 equals that between the proefrontal fellows less than half 

 the internaso-proefrontal suture. Proefrontals. — A pair, the 

 sutui'e between them half or less than half the proefronto-frontal 

 suture ; in contact with internasal, postnasal, loreal, proeocular 

 and supraocular. Frontal. — Touches 6 shields, the sutures are 

 subequal, or those made with the supraoculars, rather largest. 

 Supraoculars. — Length rather less than frontal, breadth half or 

 less than half the frontal opposite the centres of the eyes. Nasals. 

 — Quite divided, in contact with the 1st and 2nd supralabials. 

 Loreal. — One. Prceocular. — One. Postoculars. — Two. Temporal. — 

 One. Supralabials. — 7, the 3rd and 4th touching the eye. Infralnh'als 

 — 5, the 4th and 5th touching the posterior sublinguals, 5th largest, 

 and in contact with two scales behind. Sublingual. — Two pairs, the 

 anterior rather the larger. Gostals. — Two headslengths behind the 

 head 19, midbodj?" 19, two headslengths before the vent 15 (rarely 

 17); no apical pits; no keels. Ventrals. — Angulate laterally; 177 

 to 199 in the c? ,182 to 206 in the 2 • -4waZ. — Entire. Subcaudals. — 

 Divided, 61 to 68 in the c? , 42 to 57 in the 5 . Anomalies. — The 



