100 THE WHITE SNAKE OF 
shafts which communicate with the top of the rocks. The caves 
swarm with bats, which however chiefly congregate in certain 
spots, entering by the shafts or other holes, and the snakes feed 
on these bats. They therefore have a habit of resting on the 
ledges of rock in the neighbourhood of the exits, with the head 
hanging over the edge, so as to capture the bats as they fly in 
and out. I have twice caught these snakes with bats in their 
mouths. 
The walls of the caves, though of white crystalline lime-. 
stone, are not pure white, but of a pale ocreous yellow, and here 
and there are black veins, running usually vertically down the 
sides. The coloring of the snake is so exactly that of the walls, 
the black line on the tail representing the shadow of a crack or 
projecting vein, that the animal when at rest on the walls is 
often exceedingly difficult to see, but when it leaves the rocks 
avd creeps across the black mud of the floor it is of course very 
conspicuous, appearing to be pure white by contrast. So in- 
visible is it indeed that the largest I caught (which was in the 
darkest part of the large dark cave, about half an hour’s walk 
from the mouth) nearly escaped my observation, though I was 
looking carefully for them. It was resting motionless against 
the walls of the cave in an erect position, and [ had passed it by, 
and only noticed it on returning, so beautifully was it adapted 
for concealment. 
The snake being quite a harmless one has no need of warn- 
ing colors in order to caution its enemies, as some of our poison- 
ous snakes have, and it is probably quite free from any danger 
from enemies, as no snake-eating animals inhabit the caves, but 
its coloring must be extremely useful to it while lying in wait 
for its prey, which would hardly be able to see it when reposing 
on a ledge of rock. Si 
Mr. Boulenger in his letter expresses a doubt as to this 
coloring being adapted to its surroundings, on account of the 
very wide distribution of the snake. I can find however no in- 
formation as to its habits elsewhere, or even in what kind of 
localities it occurs. The only published accounts of it which I 
have seen merely describe its externa] form and color. 
(Boulenger, Catalogue of snakes. vol. ii. p. 47. Giinther. 
Reptiles of India. p. 242. 
In some of the regions in which it has been found, such as 
