SNAKES OF CEYLON. 311 



This Was to the effect in each case that the snake had been 

 seen to " fly " from some height to the ground beneath. In 

 all cases the snake was reported to have kept its body rigid 

 during this feat, and to have met the ground at an oblique 

 angle. In one case the snake proved to be Chrysopelea ornata, 

 in the second instance a snake of the same genus, viz., C. 

 chrysochlora, and in the third Dendrophis pictus. 



Shelf ord calls attention to the fact that all these snakes are 

 alike in the peculiar keeled condition of their belly shields, 

 and he made experiments to ascertain the truth of these reports. 

 He says : "A specimen of Chrysopelea ornata was taken to a 

 height of 15 to 20 feet, and allowed to fall several times ; 

 after one or two false starts the snake was felt to glide from 

 the experimenter's hands, straightening itself out, and hollow- 

 ing in the ventral surface as it moved, and it fell not in a direct 

 line to the ground, but at an angle, the body being kept rigid 

 the whole time . . . If the snake was thrown up into 



the air, it seemed unable to straighten itself out ; it had to be 

 launched, so to speak, from the hands in order to induce it to 

 assume the rigid position." 



He implies, therefore, that these "flights " are not accidental 

 falls, but deliberate voluntary efforts, and suggests that the 

 hollowing of the belly between the two ventral ridges may act 

 mechanically after the manner of a parachute, impeding the 

 action of gravity, and buoying up the creature so as to reduce 

 the momentum with which it would strike the ground. He 

 illustrates this point by comparing the fall of a piece of bamboo 

 bisected longitudinally, with the concave face downwards, and 

 that of a piece of- bamboo in its cylindrical form. In the 

 former case the descent is retarded. I prefer the use of the 

 term " springing " to that of " flying " in describing these 

 feats. Its only rivals in acrobatic and scansorial achievements 

 are the tree snakes of the genera Dendrophis and Dryophis. 



Food. — Chrysopelea, whilst showing a decided partiality 

 towards lizards of the family GecJconidss, accepts with avidity 

 many other creatures that chance has to offer. 



Members of the genus Hemidactyhis are frequently found to 

 have furnished the meal, obviously from the relative abundance 



