THE FAUNA OF A DESERT TRACT IN SOUTHERN INDIA. 195 



Grass-green above, each scale with a broad, black margin, and the ventrals with a black margin 

 externally as far as the keel. The black margins of the lateral scales so broad that when the body is at rest 

 they produce an appearance as if a black line ran along the side of the body. A black band the breadth of the 

 loreal through the eye, over the inferior postorbital and upper margins of the last upper labials, to the side of 

 the neck, where it breaks up at intervels of two rows of scales into round, black spots, etc. 



The Ramanad specimens differ slightly, chiefly as regards their less vivid colours, 

 from examples from Bengal or the Malay Peninsula, but more nearly resemble the former 

 than the latter. It does not seem worth while to give them a varietal name, but the 

 following description is based upon them : — 



Dorsal surface dark bronze ; a pale spot on the centre of the upper surface of the 

 head, a broad mid-dorsal line of pale buff extending from the neck to the tail, on which it 

 gradually becomes indistinct, and a white, lateral line edged above with black ; labials 

 and sides of the neck pale yellowish, with vertical black streaks, the sides of the neck 

 tinged with pale blue ; ventral surface dirty white, more or less distinctly tinged with 

 vellow on the throat, becoming darker posteriorly until, about the centre of the body, it is 

 slate-grey. There is no tinge of green in the coloration. In specimens from Bengal, the 

 pale mid-dorsal line may be obscure or absent and the bronze of the back and sides is not 

 quite so deep or so brown. 



Tropidonotus piscator. 



Several specimens were brought me at Ramanad which had been taken in holes in 

 the sides of wells. Their coloration is of an indefinite character, the dorsal surface being 

 pale olive-green with numerous small, black spots and streaks arranged irregularly, and 

 the belly uniformly yellowish. The common variety in Calcutta is var. A. of Boulen- 

 ger's "Catalogue," which also occurs abundantly in the Andamans. As regards colora- 

 tion and appearance generally, the Ramanad' s specimens resemble T. plumbicolor, but 

 the scaling and proportions of tail and body are those of T. piscator. 



In Calcutta this is the only snake at all commonly seen in the open, though Lycodon 

 aulicus and Typhlops acutus are not infrequently found in houses, the former being some- 

 times mistaken for the Krait. In the evening, numerous specimens of T. piscator may be 

 seen swimming on the surface of many tanks, and their evolutions beneath the surface 

 may be watched during the day in any suitable place. Their food consists wholly or 

 chiefly of fish, and they do not as rule molest the large Tank Frogs (Rana tigrina) which 

 may sometimes be seen sitting side by side with them on stones in the water. T. stolatus 

 is just as common on the banks of the tanks, but it is not so thoroughly at home in the 

 water and usually remains concealed among the herbage on dry land. 



Dryophis mycterizans. 



Common throughout Ramanad. 



The specimens from Ramanad are normal in every respect, but I take this 

 opportunity to describe what appears to be a new variety from Santragachi on the 

 Bengal-Nagpur Railway, the type having been presented to the Indian Museum by 

 Mr. G. Cummusky. 



