508 SNAKES OF CEYLON. 



Young specimens especially seem more on the alert, more easilj' 

 alarmed, and are correspondingly more easily provoked to 

 bite than many adults. 



The bite is sometimes inflicted by a snap, the creature 

 relaxing its hold at once. On the other hand, it is not unusual 

 for Russell's viper to bite, and maintain a tenacious grasp for 

 many seconds. In the case of a gunner who succumbed to the 

 bite of this snake at Thayetmyo (Burma) in 1862, Nicholson 

 mentions that it was with difficulty shaken off. Elliot 

 mentions a dog bitten by one, dragging the snake many yards 

 before disengaging it, and one might quote many more 

 similar experiences. 



(c) Striking Posture : It will not strike till considerably 

 irritated, when it hurls itself at the offending object with 

 determined malice. I have known one spring with such a 

 powerful muscular effort, that I believe it actually left the 

 ground in its endeavour to strike me. 



{d) Nocturnal or Diurnal : It is decidedly nocturnal in 

 habit. In the daytime, when encountered, it is generally found 

 lying coiled in grass, but at night it is frequently met on the 

 move crossing roads, and its intrusion into dwellings usually 

 occurs under cover of darkness. 



(e) Progression . Its movements are slow, and consistent 

 ■with its corpulent habit. When disturbed, it prefers usuaUy 

 to maintain its ground, and frequently will contest the right 

 of way with heaving sides and angry hiss . When it does retire, 

 it does so in a leisurely manner befitting its dignity and figure. 

 I have never seen one move faster than a crawl. 



(/) Hissing : The hiss once heard is not easily forgotten ; 

 no other snake emits such a volume of sound, to the production 

 of which two factors contribute. Firstly, the size of the lung 

 which is developed to a degree commensurate with the 

 remarkable body girth ; and, secondlj^, the large size of the 

 nostril, for it is through this aperture that the sound is 

 produced. In Bangalore I experimented with a large adult 

 belonging to a snake catcher. Among his stock-in-trade he 

 carried the familiar gourd pipe used by this fraternity. This 

 was sealed up in places with cobbler's wax which I removed, 

 rendered pliable by heat, and packed into the daboia's nostrils. 



