MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. 



181 



the Blue-breasted Banded Bail {Hypotcenidia striata) and not of the bird 

 laying the white eggs, an opinion I arrived at by finding the egg shell of 

 that bird in the vicinity of the nest. I shall endeavour next year to make 

 sure of the bird that lays the white eggs, for although the latter are not 

 the type of egg one would expect the Banded Crake to lay, it may be so. 

 That the Banded Crake is to be obtained at Khandalla during the monsoon 

 there is no doubt as the bird was shot there. 



R. M. BETHAM, Major, 



8tJi Bombay Infantry. 

 PooNA, 21st September 1901, 



No. XXX.— A RARE SNAKE, 



I have much pleasure in sending for our Society's collection, a specimen 

 of a rare snake Contia angusticeps obtained by me in Malakand and possibly 

 a few notes about it may be of interest to our Members. 



The first specimen I got was sent to Calcutta, where Major Alcock was 

 unable to identify it, and concluded it was a new species. Mr. Boulanger 

 of the British Museum, to whom it was sent, identified it as the Contia 

 augusticeps, of which one specimen was found several years ago, and it, 

 the type specimen, was said to be in the Indian Museum at Calcutta. It 

 cannot be found there and must have been lost. 



The specimen I have sent you is one of eleven specimens obtained 

 by me (all at Malakand) and therefore one of the twelve only specimens 

 (including the lost type specimen) yet discovered. The others are in the 

 Indian Museum, British Museum, Dublin Museum, and one in my own 

 possession. 



This snake in life, is a very lively little creature. The mai'kings on the head 

 are jet black in life, but fade rapidly in spirits. The measurements of the 11 

 existing specimens are : — 



1 

 2 

 3 

 4 



5 

 6 

 7 

 8 

 9 

 10 

 11 



ZiABAT, ith August 1901. 



