56 DR. A. GPNTHER ON A NEW SNAKE FROM BAHIA. [Jan. 27, 



months' confinement, probably from inanition. This species is very 

 frequently found close to dwellings and in the thatch of houses. 



Of Thamnodynastes nattereri I have obtained a great many spe- 

 cimens ; but of T. punctatissiinua only a few from Canavieras. 



My statement to Dr. Giinther that I had seen a specimen of Eu- 

 dipsas leucocephalus was founded on a mistake ; no specimen of this 

 species has yet come to my notice. 



Leptognathus cateshyi is not very scarce. Of L. mikanii I have 

 only lately received specimens from Caravellas. 



The Brazihan species belonging to the family Scytalidse are nu- 

 merous. Of Scytale coronatum I have seen only the variety B. 

 of Dr. Giinther' s Catalogue. It is exceedingly common, and very 

 remarkable for the different changes of coloration it undergoes by 

 age. Young specimens are of a pale-pink colour ; adults are of an 

 almost uniform black colour above, and white beneath. It lives, like 

 all the members of this family, on lizards, chiefly on our most com- 

 mon species, Trachycyclus marmoratus. I have frequently had 

 specimens of Scytale and Oxyrhopus alive for months ; they are all 

 of seminocturnal habits, and pursue their prey, not during the night, 

 but at beginning of dusk, or a short time before sunset. On seizing 

 they seldom crush their victims, unless these offer strong resistance ; 

 and considering how vigorous and tenacious of life lizards are, I have 

 often been surprised at the little resistance they offer when caught 

 even only by a leg. They seem paralyzed. If they struggle, the 

 snake quickly throws a coil or two over them ; if not, they allow 

 their pursuer, after a little while, to relinquish its hold and to seize 

 them deliberately by the head. Is it that the Snakes with grooved 

 teeth are, after all, not quite innocuous, at least for cold-blooded 

 animals? I was once severely bitten by a Philodryas reinhardtii 

 without feeling the slightest subsequent inconvenience. 



Of the genus Ojcyrhopus I have seen the following species : — 

 O. clcelia, O. formosus, O. petolarius, O. immaculatus, and O. tri- 

 geminus. The last-named one and O. petolarius are the most 

 common. Of O. immaculatus I have seen a single specimen. 



Of the family Elapidse two species are very common — Eliips lemnis- 

 catus and E. corallinus. The variety of the latter with white-edged 

 black rings never attains but a small size ; it differs also in colora- 

 tion from the others, being brick-red. I am therefore inclined to con- 

 sider it as a distinct species — the E. circinalis of Dum. and Bibron. 



5. Addition to Dr. "Wtjcherer's Article on the Ophidians 

 OF Bahia. By Dr. A. Gunther, F.Z.S., etc. 



Almost simultaneously with the concluding part of Dr. Wucherer's 

 paper " On the Ophidians of Bahia," I received from him a small 

 Snake, which on examination proved to be a new species of the 

 genus Dr amicus. 



Mr. Cope has lately* pointed out the complete gradation existing 



* Proc. Acad. Nat. Sc. Philad. 1862, p. 75. 



