876 MR. A. LOVKHIDQE.: NOTKS ON 



the pythons unless t.ltoy liave first taken a clog or goat.-ki(l, and 

 to judge hy the number of pythons so killed they must do an 

 appreciable amount of damage in the district. 



A native youngster coming up from Kilosa village heard an 

 outcry by the voatlside which he thought was a young kid. 

 Parting the grass about a bush he saw a large python which was 

 swallowing a reedbuck. He took me to the spot, which was a 

 very likely one, but the. python had gone; I think it was more 

 proI)ably a yo\iug bushbuck tliat was taken. 



Mi\ny parasitic worms were found in the stomachs of my 

 Sfpocimens, viz, ]>othridmm pythoais Blainv., Pohidelphis attewiata 

 Mol., Ophidascaris Jilaria (Duj.), and other indeterminate im- 

 inatur© Ascaiidt), A larval X^'ilarian was also found coiled up 

 in pimples which it causes on the skin. Snakes so afiected 

 nipidly lose tlieir glossy and iridescent appeai-ance, refuse to 

 feed, and succumb within a few mouths. The disease appears 

 to be infectious to the extent that another snako introduced into 

 the same cngo, after the removal of the ilying snake, became 

 infected. 



CoiiUBRIBiE. 



Tropidonotus. owvACEira Peters. 

 Blgr. Cat. Snakes, i. 1893, p. 227. 



Four specimens from Dar es Salaam, Bagilo, and Kabare. 

 Found in swampy grass-lands and along river-banks. 



All the specimens were rather small. A Bar es Salaam female, 

 kept in captivity, laid eight eggs measuring 17x8 mm. on 

 15. vi. 18. A Bagilo specimen killed 22. vii. 21 had three eggs in 

 the ovary measuring 22 x 6 mm., this was an extremely small 

 specimen measuring 262 mm. in head and body; the tip of the 

 tail was missing, us is often the case with snakes of this species. 

 It would be interesting to know what enemy it is that deprives 

 them of their tails. 



Bagilo specimens have the borders of the ventrals bright mauve 

 and not olive. 



The Dar es Salaam snake swallowed two frogs (liana miiti), 

 hind-legs first, on 22. vi, 18, and another, head first, on 24. vi. 18. 



BOODON LINEATUS Dum. & Bib. 



Blgr. Cat. Snakes, i. 1893, p. 332. 



Thirteen specimens from Mkata River, Ivimamba, Pwaga, 

 Ikikuyu, Gwao's, Sanga, Shanwa, Tabora, and Bnkoba. 

 ' The House Snake is usually found about the habitations of 

 man, among rubbish in outhouses, under old sacks, or beneath 

 sheets of iron in the open. It is not infrequently met with 

 crossing paths, and wl»en detected doing so it usually remains 



