SNAKES OF CEYLON. 173 



robust, distinctly compressed, attenuating anteriorly and 

 posteriorly. Belly obtusely angulate laterally. Tail cylin- 

 drical and long, being about one-fourth the total length. 



Identification.— The costals are 17 two heads-lengths from 

 the head, 17 in midbody, and 14 or 12 two heads-lengths before 

 the vent. This will suffice to declare its identity. It is the 

 only Colubrine Ceylon snake with three loreals. 



Colouration. — The prevailing hue on the head and body, 

 including the tail, is dorsally an olivaceous-green, or olivaceous- 

 brown. In the anterior half, or three-fifths of the body length, 

 this is uniform or nearly so, but in the posterior part many 

 scales are irregularly margined with black, so as to form a 

 reticulate pattern with a tendency to form crossbars. Indivi- 

 duals differ in colour ; I have seen some as yellow as mustard 

 and others of a hue as dark as sepia . The shields bordering the 

 lips, the scales at the side of the throat, and the scales beneath 

 the body, and tail are more or less margined posteriorly with 

 black ; in fact, these marks form a very characteristic 

 trait in the physiognomy. On the belly the regularity of the 

 black marks forcibly reminds one of a tape measure, but 

 in individuals, they may be reddish or absent in whole or in 

 part. The belly is grayish -white, dirty-white, or yellowish, 

 the latter hue often more pronounced about the throat. ♦ The 

 skin dorsally is blackish, mottled with fawn, or whitish in 

 irregularly transverse streaks, but this is usually not seen 

 owing to the overlapping of the scales. The overlapped 

 margins of the scales, however, partake of this cutaneous 

 colouration, and in young specimens light, bluish-gray, irregular 

 crossbars are usually conspicuous, especially anteriorly. In 

 young the prevailing colour is often more grayish or bluish 

 than one sees in the adult, but the markings and general 

 appearance are Very closely similar. 



A peculiarly light specimen approaching to an albino is 

 recorded by D'Abreu in Volume XXV., page 753, of the 

 Bombay Natural History Journal, and accorded the rank of a 

 variety under the name pallidus. I think it is a freak, lacking 

 the usual pigmentation of this species. 



Habits. — (a) Haunts : There is scarcely a situation, whether 

 in bill or dale, forest or plain, arid, swampy, or cultivated tract, 



