ON THE COMMON INDIAN SNAKES. 607 



snake. Specimens so ornamented frequently have a speckling of 

 the same hue on the belly, and in many though not in all the 

 throat is yellow or orange. 



This variety is very local being as far as I am aware confined 

 to the coasts of India, and even here is far less common than 

 forma typica with which it is associated. I met with it most com- 

 monly on the West Coast in Cannanore where one-third of my 

 specimens (16 in 47) were of this variety and have had specimens 

 sent to me by Colonel Dawson from Travancore. Mr. Millard 

 tells me he has never seen it about Bombay, but for all this I feel 

 sure it must occur, for Murray mentions it in Sind presumably 

 on the coast though he does not say so. I have seen three speci- 

 mens from Madras sent by Mr. Dwane to our Society from one 

 of which our coloured figure is taken. Dr. Griinther* says Mr. Walter 

 Elliot has figured such a specimen from Madras. I also met with 

 it not infrequently in Rangoon. Nicholson f remarks that the 

 varieties of this snake found in Malabar and Burma show the finest 

 display of interstitial colours, by which I think he alludes to the 

 vermilion variety for this is the one he figures. Theobald J also 

 remarks on the vermilion seen in specimens from Burma, and both 

 he and Murray say that this brilliant suffusion is a seasonal 

 manifestation. Whether these observations were made indepen- 

 dently or Theobald simply reiterated Murray's words I cannot 

 say, but I am fully convinced that neither the vermilion 

 ornamentation, nor the brilliant yellow and orange gorgets seen 

 in some specimens are seasonal. Dr. Gunther's remarks on Mr. 

 Walter Elliot's painting of a j specimen with a yellow throat and 

 vermilion adornment seem to imply that these highly decorative 

 hues are acquired in the breeding season, but this is not the case, 

 nor are they the prerogative of either sex, nor the insignia of 

 maturity. 



In Fyzabad I had two j hatchlings on successive days, viz., 25th 

 and 26th October, one of which had a white throat, whilst the other 

 had a bright yellow suffusion extending to the lips. On the 7th of 

 November in the same year (1905) I had a $ adolescent 9^ inches 



* Rept. Brit. Ind., p. 267. 

 t Ind. Snakes, Plate xv. fig. 1. J Cat. Brit. Burma, p. 47. 



