SNAKES OF CEYLON. 165 



(b) Anomalies — Temporals : Sometimes three. Supra- 

 labials : Sometimes two are confluent to make eight. 



Dentition. — From one skull in my collection. Maxillary : 

 Prsenodal 5, the anterior 3 progressively increasing the 

 4th and 5th subequal, and twice as long as the 3rd. 

 Prsecranterian 7 to 8, small, subequal. Cranterian. 2, 

 subequal, nearly twice the preceding. Palatine : 13 to 14. 

 Pterygoid : 27 to 29. Mandibular : Prsenodal 4, the 3rd 

 and 4th subequal, twice the length of the 2nd. Postnodal 13, 

 small, subequal. 



Distribution. — (a) General : Peculiar to Ceylon. 



(b) Local : There are very few records of this snake. The 

 British Museum collection contains eight, and the Colombo 

 Museum but one. Mr. Drummond-Hay, however, tells me he 

 found it a common snake at Hopewell estate, Balangoda 

 district (3,000 to 4,000 feet), and also at Galatura, Ratnapura 

 District (500 to 1,000 feet). Haly records it from Jaffna, and 

 Abercromby, with a doubt, from Ma tale. I have had one from 

 the Ratnapura District. It would appear from these records 

 to be a low-country species ascending into the low hills. 



Genus DRYOCALAMUS. 

 (Greek " drus " a tree, and " kalamos " a pen.) 



General Characters. — Small snakes only growing to about 

 18 inches. Head oval in outline, broadest midway between 

 the eye and the neck, considerably depressed. Snout rather 

 short, narrowing to an obtuse extremity, without canthus. 

 Eye large, with vertical pupil . The iris is quite black, and the 

 shape of the pupil cannot be seen in life. Nostril small, lateral. 

 Neck fairly evident. Body elongate, cylindrical, slender, 

 of even calibre throughout. Belly laterally angulate. Tail 

 short, being about one-fifth the total length. 



The species show a considerable resemblance to those of the 

 Genus Lycodon in superficial characters, but the dentition 

 shows that they are not very closely related. 



Identification. — Costals as broad as long in 13 or 15 rows in 

 the whole body length will establish the genus. 



