556 SNAKES OF CEYLON. 



occasions I found small frogs had been ingested, and twice a 

 snake of the species Aspidura trachyprocta. It also frequently 

 feeds on soft-shelled eggs, which appeared to me lacertine, but 

 which may have been ophidian. In some instances the 

 contents of these eggs had been completely absorbed, without 

 any visible breach of continuity in the shell, which was empty, 

 collapsed, and longitudinally compressed. The shell resists 

 the action of the digestive juices, and is discharged in this state. 

 Breeding. — (a) The Sexes: Of 26 specimens collected for me 

 at Hakgalla, 10 Were males and 13 females. The adult males 

 were easily picked out from the females, by their tails being bent 

 round ventrally like a shepherd's crook. The male claspers, 

 as in other vipers, are bifid on each side, and surmounted 

 by a formidable array of falciform cartilaginous processes. 



(b) Method of Reproduction : It is viviparous in habit. 



(c) Season : The only available date is that of eggs in an early 

 stage of development in a female killed on May 16 at Hakgalla. 



(d) Period of Gestation : Not known. 



Growth. — (a) The Young : Exact length not known. My 

 smallest specimen, 158 mm. (6J inches) in length, was killed 

 in July. 



(b) Maturity : Not known. My smallest gravid example 

 was 240 mm. (9 J inches) long. 



(c) Maximum Length : My longest specimen was a male 387 

 mm. (15 J inches). My longest female was 381 mm. (15 inches). 



Poison. — Nothing known. 



Lepidosis. — (a) Typical — Rostral : The rostro-nasal sutures 

 are fully twice the rostro -labial. A more or less pronounced 

 hump on the snout is covered with 8 to 12 scales. Internasals ; 

 A pair, separated from one another, but touching the prefron- 

 tals behind. Prefrontals : A pair, in contact with one another ; 

 separated from the supraoculars by a row of small scales. 

 Frontal : Separated from the prefrontal by three scales (which 

 appear to be disintegrated parts of this shield) ; the fronto- 

 supraocular sutures longer than the fronto-parietals. Supra- 

 oculars : Longer than the frontal ; as broad as the frontal along 

 a line connecting the centres of the eyes ; three-fourths to four- 

 fifths the length of the parietals. Nasal : Entire. Supraloreal : 

 One ; as large as the internasal. Loreal : One or more, lining the 



