Sept. 1850. BIRDS. SNAKES. LEAF-INSECT. 305 



hardly so high as Mamloo ; the rocks are the same sand- 

 stone, with fragments of coal, and remains of the limestone 

 formation capping it. 



Hot gusts of wind blow up the valleys, alternating 

 with clouds and mists, and it is curious to watch the 

 effects of the latter in stilling the voices of insects (Cicadas) 

 and birds. Common crows and vultures haunt the villages, 

 but these, and all other large birds, are very rare in the 

 Khasia. A very few hawks are occasionally seen, also 

 sparrows and kingfishers, and I once heard a cuckoo ; 

 pheasants are sometimes shot, but we never saw any. 

 Kites become numerous after the rains, and are regarded 

 as a sign of their cessation. More remarkable than the 

 rarity of birds is the absence of all animals except 

 domestic rats, as a more suitable country for hares and 

 rabbits could not be found. Reptiles, and especially 

 Colubridae, are very common in the Khasia mountains, 

 and I procured sixteen species and many specimens. 

 The natives repeatedly assured us that these were all 

 harmless, and Dr. Gray, who has kindly examined all my 

 snakes, informs me of the remarkable fact (alluded to in a 

 note to p. 25), that whereas none of these are poisonous, 

 four out of the eleven species which I found in Sikkim 

 are so. One of the Khasia blind-worms (a new species) 

 belongs to a truly American genus (Ophisaurus), a fact as 

 important as is that of the Sikkim skink and Agama being 

 also American forms. 



Arundina, a beautiful purple grassy-leaved orchid, was 

 abundantly in flower on the hill-top, and the great white 

 swallow-tailed moth (Satarnia Atlas) was extremely com- 

 mon, with tropical butterflies and other insects. The 

 curious leaf-insect {Mantis) was very abundant on the 

 orange trees, on the leaves of which the natives believe 



VOL. II. X 



