SNAKES OF CEYLON. 107 



quiescent, and only comes into view when the snake under 

 alarm or excitement inflates itself. It is much more 

 conspicuous, or may be wholly confined to the anterior 

 half or third of the body. This is the common type which 

 is universally to be met with throughout the area of its 

 distribution in plains and hills alike. 



(b) Variety eryihrostictus (Wall) : In this, the far more 

 beautiful variety, bright vermilion replaces the blue adorn- 

 ment of variety typica. The vermilion, however, is usually, if 

 not always, more extensively distributed than the blue of the 

 last variety, so that it is usually more or less evident even in 

 the quiescent state of the 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. 

 It has been suggested that the brilliant hues here alluded to 

 are acquired during the breeding season, but this is not so. 

 They may be seen in hatchlings and at all times of the year. 



Habits. — (a) Haunts: Its choice of a home, of course, 

 depends upon its food, but though this consists of frogs and 

 toads, I cannot recall ever having met with one actually in 

 the water. The reason is obvious, for during the season when 

 it is in evidence — the rains — the whole country is wet enough 

 to make frogs abundant everywhere, and even when the land 

 is drying, or dry, short of drought, many species of frogs that 

 do not congregate in collections of water are in hiding and 

 toads too. I know full well that in captivity water is essential 

 to its well-being, and I have had specimens that were to be 

 seen at times more or less immersed in their basins. Ferguson 

 says : "In captivity it is fond of lying in water ' ' ; and Mr. E. E. 

 Green, in a letter to me writes : " It submerges itself in its 

 bath at rare intervals, and remains there for many hours." 

 Nicholson remarks that " in dry weather the offer of a drink 

 will at once gain their hearts." Though it is not the swimmer 

 or hydrophile that piscator is, it is frequently to be met with 

 in damp situations, such as drying paddy fields and the banks 

 of canals ; and Mr. Millard remarks that in October near 

 Bombay " it is exceedingly common in the rice fields, where 

 one sees them constantly, probably attracted by the crop of 

 , yonng frogs." 



