162 SNAKES OF CEYLON. 



Distribution. — (a) General : Peninsular India to the 

 Himalayas, and as far as the Punjab in the north-west. 

 Bengal, Assam, Burma, Indo-China, the Malay Peninsula, 

 the Malay Archipelago to the Philippines, Ceylon, the Maldives, 

 Andamans, and Nicobars. 



(b) Local : It is an extremely common denizen of the 

 plains, but I have met with it in the Himalayas up to 5,000 

 feet. Willey says in Ceylon it does not appear to ascend 

 above 3,000 feet. Mr. Drummond-Hay tells me he never 

 obtained a single specimen at Hopewell estate, Balangoda 

 district (3,000 to 4,200 feet). 



* Cercaspis carinatus Kuhl. 



(Latin " carinatus " keeled.) 



The Ceylon Wolf snake. 



Synonymy. — Hurria carinata, Lycodon carinatus. 



History.— Described by Kuhl in 1820. 



General Characters. — Grows to over 2 feet. Head pear- 

 shaped. Snout much depressed, moderately -rounded 

 terminally, without can thus. Eye rather small. Neck 

 fairly constricted. Body moderately long, cylindrical, 

 attenuating slightly posteriorly. Belly laterally angulate. 

 Tail short, about one -fifth to one -sixth the total length. 



Identification. — The costals 17 two heads -lengths behind 

 the head, 19 in midbody, and 17 two heads-lengths before the 

 vent, will suffice to identify the species among Ceylon snakes. 

 This is one of' the few species with entire subcaudals. It is 

 remarkabty like the poisonous snake Bungarus ceylonicus in 

 colour and markings, and also closely resembles Lycodon 

 aulicus and L. striatus. 



* I have recently communicated a note to Spolia Zeylanica giving 

 my reasons for separating the genera Lycodon and Cercaspis. 



