THE POISONOUS SNAKES OF INDIA. 



65 



Sub 



its distance to the nostril, and is greater than its distance to the 



edge of the lip, 2 rows of scales 

 between it and the suprala- 

 bials. fiapralaliah. — The 4th 

 isl the largest of the series 

 (rarely, the 3rd). SuUmguals 

 touch 3 or 4< infralabials, and 2 

 small scales behind. Infrala- 

 bials 4 (rarely 3) , the 4th touch- 

 ing 2 scales behind. Scales 

 in midbody 27 to 37. Ventrals 

 not ridged laterally. Suhcati- 

 dals iindivided. During life its 

 peculiar habit of throwing its 

 body into a double coil, inflat- 

 ing itself, and then rubbing 

 one coil against the other so 

 as to produce a sound closely 

 resembling hissing, will in 

 itself proclaim its identity. 



Distribution. — It occurs in 

 the North-East of Ceylon and 

 throughout a large area of the 

 Indian Peninsula from Cape 

 Comorin to the Ganges, but 

 being a desert form preferring 

 an arid sandy soil, it is distri- 

 Fig 37-.BoMs carinata ( X 2i). b^ted chiefly in isolated patches 

 where it is frequently very common. Jerdon remarks it is common 

 throughout the Carnatic. I have found it especially so about Trichi- 

 nopoly. I believe it does not occur in the narrow tract between the 

 Hills and the Malabar Coast, South of Karwar. To the North-East 

 its limits are not exactly known ; if it occurs in Bengal it is scarce 

 and only to the South of the Ganges. To the North-West it 

 extends through Rajppotana, the Punjab, Sind and Baluchistan to 

 Transcaucasia and is extremely abundant in these parts. Some idea of 

 its prodigious numbers was furnished by Vidal.* He says that 

 in the Ratnagiri District alone during 6 years Government 

 rewards were paid on an average of 225,721 phoorsas per annum ! 

 • Journal, Bombay Natural History Soc, Vol. V.. p. 6i. 



