FASCICULI MALATENSES 
i6i 
immediate vicinity of Biserat ; while they are all abundant at the villages of 
Mata Rusa and Parang, which are four or five miles distant across the rice fields, 
and which stand in large and ancient orchards. The Malays, who delight in 
zoological theorizing, say that the ‘‘ earth snakes ” avoid the banks of the river 
because they are afraid of some particular ant, which is abundant there. This 
theory may be the correct one, but to myself, who have not had the opportunities 
of observation enjoyed by the natives, it seems more probably that they avoid 
a sandy soil, in which there are few earthworms, and prefer a rich leaf-mould 
in which earthworms abound.’ 
BOIDAE 
53. Python reticulatus, Schn. 
Batang Padang and Jalor. 
Not uncommon in the Patani States and Lower Siam. The Malays 
have many superstitions regarding it.' 
COLUBRIDAE 
54. Chrysydrus g^ranulatus, Schn. 
Patani. 
55. Tropidonotus piscator, Schn. 
Jalor. 
56. Tropidonotus chrysargus, Schlg. 
Bukit Besar and Jalor. 
‘ Two specimens were captured in pools of water in a tree-trunk, feeding 
on the spawn of the frog Ixalus horridusl* 
57. Macropisthodon rhodomelas, Boie. 
Batang Padang. 
58. Lycodon laoensis, Gthr. 
Jalor. 
Was only known from Siam until discovered at Kota Bharu (Rhaman) 
by the ‘ Skeat ’ Expedition. 
I. Fascic. Malay, y Anthrop,^ part i, p. 88. See also Skeat’s Malay Magic^ pp. 302, 303 
