732 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HLSTORY SOCIETY, Vol. XL 



I may mention that I had two young ones in captivity at different times 

 after obtaining the specimen above described, and they were invariably mis- 

 taken by visitors for the young of the Deroo (Gazella pelzelni). They were 

 very delicate, a,nd, I am sorry to say, did not long survive in captivity. I had a 

 lar^e menagerie at the time, and was successful in rearing several of the 

 Somali antelope, but the climate of the Coast seemed too much for theBaira. 



One of the specimens in the Natural History Museum, South Kensington, is 

 a male carryinghorns about 5" long, but the buck of the herd that I met with 

 had horns which seemed to me at the time to be 9" or 10" — one i<, however, 

 doubtless inclined to overestimate the length of horns when taking a fleeting 

 view of them in the fit-Id, and time will perhaps show that I looked at them 

 with a magnifying eye. 



P. Z. COX. Capt. 



Barod.% April, 128$. 



No. II.— NOTES ON TWO SPECIMENS OF I1YPSIRHINA SIEBOLD1T, 



Whilst stationed at D Ihi list year I was fortunate enorgh to secure two 

 specimens of this rare snake, both being caught in the Jumna, 



The first, a small specimen, I saw my snakeman catch. He was rummaging 

 about with a stick in a heap of decaying vegetp.ble matter, chiefly composed 

 of dead rush. Through this he searched very carefully, lifting up strand 

 after strand of rush, and when he had burrowed about a foot deep and had 

 about reached water level, he dived his hand into the heap and brought out 

 a snake by the tail ; it was embedded in the mud and required some force to 

 pull it out from its retreat. This proved to be a Hypsirhina sieboldii, and 

 measured 1 foot If inches. 



My second specimen was brought in to me by the same man, and was a 

 very fine specimen, exceeding the measurement given in Boulanger's work, 

 viz., 6 1 inches, its total length being 2 feet 6| inches. 



It was remarkably active and strong like all the water snakes I have 

 observed, and very quick in its movements and menacing on every attempt to 

 cap ture it, striking out with a velocity almost equal to the Echih carinata, 

 and throwing itself at the same time forcibly forward. It was continua'Iy on 

 the move in my verandah, progressing very rapidly in its attempts to escape. 

 The man who brought me this and a great many other snakes, who is 

 justly celebrated locally for his daring and skilful manipulation of snakes, I 

 have st en repeatedly pick up cobras and feraits and other snakes by the 

 tail and hold them out at arm's length with the greatest sang froid. 



The only snake he paid any respect to was the Ec/v's, and these he was ex- 

 tremely cautious in handling. He seemed very much taken aback and 



