286 SNAKES OF CEYLON. 



Colouration. — Very variable, some specimens being notably 

 light with few markings, others dark with very fine specklings 

 and bold mottlings. Dorsally the ground colour is dirty - 

 whitish or buff, and this is finely powdered or marbled with 

 pale neutral tint or brownish. Usually there is a series of 

 more or less distinct large purplish -brown cross-bars, most 

 conspicuous anteriorly and extending from the nape well 

 down the tail. In some specimens a series of lateral vertical 

 marks alternate with the vertebral series, and there may be 

 another series of smaller alternating spots below this. All 

 such markings are most conspicuous and regular anteriorly, 

 and gradually dissolve posteriorly into an irregular coarse 

 mottling. Willey says in Ceylon there are two varieties " the 

 typical variety, brown, with angular oblique black bars ; and 

 the red variety, uniformly rich reddish-chocolate above , with- 

 out black bars, paler roseate flush below." The belly is dirty- 

 whitish or yellowish, more or less speckled or mottled with 

 dark tones, especially laterally. The head is powdered with 

 pale neutral tint or brownish. In my experience hardly two 

 specimens are alike. One large example in the Colombo 

 Museum is a perfectly uniform light-brown. 



Habits. — (a) Haunts : It is entirely arboreal in habit, and I 

 think more usually lives in large trees than in low bush. 

 Visiting the Maharajah of Balrampur some years ago, I found 

 some very fine specimens displayed by his professional snake 

 catchers, who assured me that they lived in pairs, and fre- 

 quented holes in the " mohwa " trees (Bassia latifolia), in 

 which they were quite common. I was told that it occasion- 

 ally comes into the bungalows there. The record specimen 

 was killed in the camp of Sir J. Campbell at Kaladungi, in the 

 Naini Tal District. It came do wn from a tree near his servants ' 

 tent at night, and was killed, and another was killed in the 

 same spot on the following night. Mr. N. Warde wrote to 

 me from Manbhum, Lower Bengal, where he says they are 

 common, that " it coils itself into a bundle at the end of a thin 

 branch, round leaves and small twigs, and waits for birds." 



(b) Disposition: It has been described to me as a fierce 

 snake, especially by the snake catchers at Balrampur, and 

 what I saw for myself amply confirmed this. 



