226 SNAKES OF CEYLON. 



My attention was attracted by the distressed behaviour of 

 the birds, which I approached cautiously, and saw on the 

 ground between a group of gravestones a tristis with its head 

 well erected. I was so near that I both saw and heard 

 more than one peck delivered (it appeared to me on the head) 

 by the birds in their agitated flights to an fro. An incautious 

 movement on my part and the snake had slipped away, and 

 no amount of search could reveal its whereabouts. In a 

 croton bush within a yard or two of the encounter I found 

 the robin's nest with eggs. Specimens in the Madras Museum* 

 have fed freely. One ate 79 toads and 1 lizard between 

 August 12 and March 31 ; another 94 frogs from April 1 to 

 January 21, following; a third 18 frogs between February 13 

 and March 31 ; and a fourth 104 frogs, presumably during 

 the year. 



Breeding. — (a) Method of Reproduction : This bronze-back 

 is oviparous in habit. Mr. Green had eggs deposited in his 

 vivarium. 



(b) Season: A gravid specimen killed in September (?) 

 from the Madura District contained eggs. Another specimen 

 killed at Peradeniya at the end of December was found to 

 contain nearly mature eggs. The eggs deposited in Mr. 

 Green's vivarium were voided in January. I had a specimen 

 with eggs from Kil Kotagiri, Nilgiri Hills, in February. A 

 specimen in the Madras Museum deposited six eggs on August 

 4, 1919. I had a very recently hatched specimen on August 

 28. 



(c) Period of Gestation : Abercromby says this is from 

 four to five months. 



(d) Period of Incubation. — Abercromby says the eggs hatch 

 in from four to six weeks. (Spol. Zeylan., Volume IX., 

 page 146.) 



(e) Number of Clutch : My scanty records show that from 

 6 to 7 eggs are laid. 



(/) Dimensions of Eggs : The eggs are remarkably long. 



Green's deposited eggs were submitted to me, and I found 



the smallest measured 29 by 10 mm. (1J by T ^ of an inch), 



and the largest 35 by 12 mm. (If by J an inch). These eggs 



* Administration Report, Madras Govt. Mus., 1896-97. 



