68 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol XX. 



fashion when disturbed. In cold or inclement weather it retires to 

 any convenient quarter. Its movements are never what I would call 

 really active, in fact compared with other non-viperine snakes it is 

 a sluggard and it does not appear capable of hurrying itself under any 

 amount of stimulation. 



It probably passes a long term of hibernation each year, coming 

 forth like other snakes of temperate climes in the spring and retiring 

 in the late autumn. In spite of this it manages to fatten itself amply, 

 for in the autumn months, its organs are packed with fat to a degree 

 that has made me suspect a gravid condition, but subsequent investiga- 

 tion has frequently proved such a specimen a male. This snake in 

 common with many other will often when provoked flatten itself, or 

 crouch on the ground in a remarkab'e manner. The flattening is 

 most evident in the hinder part of the body, but what object the 

 snake has in behaving so it is difficult to guess at. Mr. Gleadow has 

 remarked on this peculiarity in this Journal (Vol. xii, p. 577). 



Disposition. — The brown Himalayan viper is a lethargic individual, 

 slow to anger, but if sufficiently provoked will bite. It would appear 

 to avoid a disagreeable situation whenever possible rather than pro- 

 voke an encounter. The specimens I removed into the open and 

 played with, would pass by a stick, or other offending object pushed 

 in their way again and again as if unconscious of the offence offered. 

 If rapped en the tail they shook that appendage with vigour in 

 acknowledgment of the insult, without turning to avenge it If 

 cover was within easy reach they always strived to get there, rather 

 than show fight, but if baulked, or if severely struck they would 

 coil themselves up, erect the head, quiver the tongue and vibrate the 

 tail tip, and on further provocation would frequently strike out 

 fiercely. I think it probable that they rarely inflict a bite unless 

 trodden upon. 



Food. — Stoliczka* says that it feeds principally on mice, but although 

 my observations were made for the most part in the same part of the 

 Himalayas as his, I never found anything in the stomachs of those 

 captured in Kashmir except the little skink Lygosoma himalayanus. 

 This beautiful little lizard with its cherry-red waistcoat, is extremely 

 common in Kashmir, where one rarely turns over a stone, without 



* Jourl. As. Soc, Bengal, Vol. XXXIX., p. ^26. 



