THE POISONOaS SNAKES OF INDIA. 17 



the Mahanadi Eiver.* North of the Ganges the most "Western 

 limit I know of is Bettiah (N.-W. Behar). 



Poison. — (See Part II, page 95.) 



Dimensions. — Six feet is a very unusual length, but Major 0. A. 

 Smith has recorded one seven feet leng (Bomb. N. H. Jourl., Vol. 

 XXI, page 284). 



Colour. — Alternately and completely banded black and yellow. 



BUNGARUS MAGNIMACULATUS .— The Burmese Krait. 



Identification. — It has broader and fewer bands than any other 

 krait. 



From candidus with which it has been confused it is known by 

 its colour, and habitat. 



Prom cceruleus it is known from the larger number of ventrals 

 i(218-229), the narrow 2nd supralabial, colour and habitat. 



Prom multicinctus it is known by the larger number of ventrals, 

 •colour and more restricted habitat. 



Bistribution. — At present known from a very restiicted area 

 within the basin of the Irrawaddy.f It is the only krait peculiar 

 to Burma. 



Poison. — Nothing known. 



Dimensions. — Grows to 4 feet 3i inches. 



* There is one specimen in the British Museum presented by Colonel Beddome, 

 and labelled from the Anamallays. This is the sole record of this snake in Penin- 

 sula India outside the limits specified above. 



The accuracy of Beddome's record is shattered by the following facts. He 

 records no less than 7 other species from Southern India, not known otherwise from 

 this area. These are Tropidonotus paralleliis, T. subminiatus, T. Mmalayanus, 

 Lycodonjara, Simotes splendidus, S. octolineatus and Dendrelaphis caibdolineatus. 

 All of these snakes are known otherwise from areas in which Bungarus fasciatus 

 occurs. Now it is certain that Beddome received snakes from Burma and Tenasse- 

 rim because there are specimens in the British and Indian Museums presented by 

 him from those areas, viz., Simotes cruentatus, S. violaceus, S. cyclurus and Dip- 

 sadomorphus hexagonotus. From these facts it would appear that specimens from 

 Burma and Tenasserim including- one of Bungarus fasciatus had been mixed up 

 with his Southern Indian collections. 



In proof of these statements, vide Boulenger's Catalogue of Snakes 1893 to 1896 

 and Solater's list of Snakes in the Indian Museum, Journal Asiatic Society of 

 Bengal, Vol. LX, 1891. 



t Monywa, Meiktila, (Wall and Evans. Bomb. Nat. Hist. Jourl., Vol. XII, p. 

 '611) and Meiktila (Sclater, Jourl. Asiatic Soc, Bengal, Vol. LX, p. 245.) Hmawbi, 

 Myingyan, and Shwebo District (Evans.- — In epistola.) 



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