NOTES ON SNAKES IN EAST AFRICA 827 
I took it to be. It was very gentle, making no effort to escape 
until placed in a vivarium, when it dashed about in the wildest 
manner, inflating its neck vertically and striking at the glass 
when anyone came near. 
A brown boomslang was bitten by a puff adder, which 
would doubtless have eaten it had it not been removed from 
the case. On eviscerating it, the heart was found to be still 
beating quite ten minutes after it had been bitten ; the site 
of the bite some three inches anterior to the vent was in a 
fearful state, and, had one not known the circumstances, one 
would have supposed the creature to be in the last stages of 
putrefaction. The scales were loose and falling off, pinkish 
blood oozed from between them and from the vent, the fat 
was speckled with blood, and the intestines were full and 
oozing with the same. The whole region was blown up as if 
with gas and had the puffy appearance of decomposition. 
In captivity these boomslang fed well on living or dead 
birds. 
The Bird Snake ( Thelotornis Kirtlandii) of Tropical and 
South Africa seems to be uncommon at Morogoro, as only 
two specimens have been brought in during two months. 
The angular and elongated head is marked with green, the 
body is brown, slender and whip-like. It frequents trees. 
The next genus is that of the Sand Snakes (. Psammophis ) 
with six East African species, specimens of all being in the 
writer’s possession. One recognisable feature that they 
possess in common is a fine speckling of the lip-scales which 
are usually white. Three species are to be found at Morogoro, 
namely the Angola Sand Snake (P. angolensis), the Hissing 
Sand Snake (P. sibilans), and the Underlined Sand Snake 
(P. subtaeniatus ) . 
Specimens of the last named, which is by far the commonest, 
were taken at Lukigura and Matomondo, whilst at Morogoro 
scarcely a week passes without one being seen. It may be 
crudely described as a brown slender snake with a bright 
yellow underside which is marked along its length with a pair 
of parallel black lines. Their favourite food is the Striped 
Skink ( Mabuia striata), which they pursue with inconceivable 
swiftness and hold until the slow-flowing venom has paralysed 
