THE HABITS OF MALAY REPTILES. 199 
snake in its mouth to worry it, presently foamed at the mouth, 
as if he had been licking a toad, and soon dropped the snake. I 
tasted the exudation, and found it bitter, but it had no effect on 
my salivary glands. It is evident, however, that it must act as 
a deterrent on its enemies, and perhaps the cobra-like habit of 
sitting up may also alarm an animal about to attack it, but I must 
admit the actual resemblance to a cobra is not really very great. 
This snake possesses two very lone glassy fangs at the back of 
its mouth, which might leal persons to suppose that it is veno- 
mous, but the poison fangs of a dangerous snake are in the 
front of the mouth, and Jlacropisthodon, though it can bite 
sharply, is not poisouous, 
There are a good many snakes of the type usually popularly 
known as Rat-snakes, and Water-snakes, several of which attain 
a considerable size, seven or eight feet long. The black ones 
such as Coluber me/anurus, which I have found under a pile of 
rotten boards, are often mistaken for cobras and promptly slain, 
whereas as rat-killers they might be encouraged, (C. taeniurus, 
the cave snake, which | described in the last number of the 
Journal, has been recently caught by Mr. Rostados at Kota 
Tinggi, in Johore, far away from any caves or rocks, and this 
specimen is certainly more of the olivaceous colour described by 
Boulenger, and not so white as that of the caves. 
Dipsadomorphus dendrophilus is a common and very beautiful 
harmless snake of considerable size. It usually lives in man- 
grove swamps, where it sits coiled up on the branches waiting 
for birds or rats.. Its colouring is an intense glossy black with 
bright yellow bands, and in this it resembles the deadly Bungarus 
fasciatus, also a mangrove-haunting snake, but whether this can be 
classed as a genuine case of mimicry oris only an accidental 
resemblance it would be hard to say. Itisa very quiet snake, 
and becomes quite tame very shortly after capture. One cap- 
tured on the Sirangoon river, where it is very abundant, laid 
four rather large oblong white eggs, soon after it was caught 
The Malays call it Ular ranke or Ular chin-chin mas. 
D. cynodon is another common species, about five feet in 
length. ‘There are two colour forms of this, which look so 
different that one would hardly recognize them as the same. In 
one the body is bright brown with darker blotches and a yellow 
