NOTES ON SNAKES IN EAST AFKICA 329 
I put a live mouse ( Mus belli) into the Hissing Sand Snake’s 
cage on November 28 ; it was seized almost immediately and 
chewed and swallowed. A naked nestling mouse was also 
swallowed. Then followed two skinks, one of which was 
taken almost from my hand by the larger snake ; the other 
lizard jumped into the biscuit tin which served as a water 
tank. After watching it for a moment in the water, the other 
sand snake, turning, slid up to the snake which already had a 
skink in its jaw and watched it intently. Gradually approach- 
ing, it suddenly made a grab at the skink as snake ‘ A ’ 
was changing its hold. The jaws of 4 A ’ enveloped the upper 
jaw and head of ‘ B,’ but 4 B’s’ mouth closed on 4 A’s ’ lower 
jaw and both parties worked their fangs vigorously. 
Seizing the combatants I attempted to extricate the tangle, 
but their small hooked teeth were so firmly embedded that 
I left them in order to get a pair of forceps. On returning I 
found they had both dropped the skink and 4 A ’ had seized 
‘ B ’ by the neck — a great commotion ensued, ‘ B ’ attempting 
to get its coils round * A’s ’ neck. Finally 4 B ’ became 
exhausted, and 4 A,’ working 4 B’s ’ head round till the snout 
was in its own mouth, began to swallow. After a foot was 
out of sight 4 A ’ lost heart and, gaping widely, reversed gear 
and disgorged poor 4 B,’ who made off with a gory head and 
slimy skin. After taking a couple of turns round the case 
‘ A ’ commenced to poke about till it found the skink, which 
it very soon swallowed. 
On December 7 a second fight began but did not go to 
such lengths as the first, and 4 A ’ was given a Gherrosaurus 
major lizard, which was a big mouthful for the snake, and 
served to keep it quiet for a time. On December 9, however, 
it attempted to take a mouse out of the coils of a Rhamphiophis 
oxyrhynchus snake, and not wishing for further trouble, the 
writer removed the quarrelsome snake to a cage with an 
Underlined Sand Snake. On the 30th the latter died, probably 
because the former had eaten all the food, so after feeding 
the Hissing Sand Snake with a skink the writer put the Under- 
lined Snake’s head into its mouth and it continued swallowing 
it until it was gone. The digestion of this big meal took 
precisely eight days. 
