326 SNAKES OF CEYLON. 



History.— First depicted by Russell in Plate XIII. of his 

 second volume (1801). Christened by Shaw in 1802. 



General Characters. — -A small snake growing to about 

 3 feet. Head very small, elongate, not depressed. Snout 

 long, subcorneal, strongly declivous, obtusely rounded 

 terminally, slightly produced downwards. Eye small. 

 Nostril with no sutures radiating, therefrom. Commissure 

 of mouth shaped like an italic /. Neck not apparent. Body 

 cylindrical, and slender in its anterior two-fifths, and about 

 one -third to less than one -fourth the extreme depth 

 posteriorly, compressed and heavy in the posterior three- 

 fifths. 



Identification. — Easily recognized by the figure -of -8 

 tubercles on the scales, 17 to 21 scale rows two heads - 

 lengths behind the head, and ventrals numbering 217 to 

 290. 



Colouration. — Dull olive-green dorsally, merging to pale- 

 yellow or whitish ventrally. Body with from 41 to 61 black 

 annuli, dilated vertebrally, and much confluent vertebrally 

 and ventrally, especially on the slender part of the forebody, 

 so that only oval whitish windows are left laterally. The 

 annuli are well defined, black, and complete, or but slightly 

 interrupted laterally in the young, but tend to lose definition 

 as they grow older, giow less black and completely disappear 

 ventrally in old adults, leaving dull, dark, greenish -black 

 dorsal bars. The head is quite black in the young, but fades 

 to a dull greenish -black with age. 



Habits. — Theie is nothing special to remark. 



Food. — I have always found mursenids pi eyed upon. 

 Specimens submitted for ^identification to Dr. Henderson 

 were reported to be either Ophichthys boro (Ham. Buch.) or 

 0. orientalis (McClelland). I have seen as many as three 

 of these eels in one stomach, and one measured 8 inches 

 in length. 



Breeding. — (a) The Sexes : The sexes are evenly balanced. 

 Out of 29 adults captured in 1917. 14 were males and 15 



