OCR Text |
Show 660 MR. STANLEY S. FLOWER ON THE [May 16, Colour (in life). Above dark olive, with small black spots forming indistinct cross-bands or reticulations; on the anterior half of the body a lateral series of large triangular black spots, with the points extending down to the ventrals, separated by interspaces of bright coral-red ; belly yellow, some of the ventrals partially edged with black: subcaudals yellow, each scale edged with black; upper labials yellow with black sutures. Hab. Southern Burma, Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Nias, Sipora, (Mentawei Islands), Java, Borneo, Celebes, Ternate. 110. TROPIDONOTUS PISCATOR (Schneid.) Tropidonotus piscator, Blgr. Cat. Snakes, i. p. 230. Siamese. " N g u lai- sau " ; " lai" means variegated. Localities. Var. A. The specimen from Singapore mentioned in the Brit. Mus. Cat. is the only instance I know, of this variety, in this region. Var. B. To this variety of the Indian Fishing Snake belong Cantor's Penang specimen, and those obtained by Mouhot in Siam and Cambodia; and I have seen six specimens caught in Penang at various elevations from sea-level to 2200 feet. In May and June 1898, these snakes were very numerous near Alor Star, Kedah, and it is one of the commonest in Bangkok. Habits. The Fishing Snake seems generally to be found in or near fresh water. W h e n newly caught and frightened it is apt to be fierce, but soon becomes tame in captivity. Its food includes frogs; I have known it to eat Microhyla omata. Colour (in life).-Var. B. Above olive-brown, black-spotted. Below whitish, ventrals and subcaudals more or less edged with black. A specimen, 360 m m . in length, caught in the W a n g Na, Bangkok, 21st July 1898, was unusually coloured:-Above dark olive-brown, indistinctly spotted with black. Along each side a series of distinct black spots, the interspaces being pale olive-brown, broadly marked with bright scarlet, which gave the snake a striking appearance. Below pale greenish yellow, each ventral and sub-caudal neatly outlined in black. Head above olive-brown, with two small well-defined black-edged yellow spots close together on the parietals (these two spots are frequently noticeable in Bangkok specimens); sides of head yellowish, two parallel black lines running obliquely backwards and downwards from the eye. Under surface of head dull whitish. Iris yellowish green, with narrow golden ring round pupil. Size. A female from Penang Hill was 952 m m . in length. Hab. India, Burma, South China, Siam, Cambodia, Malay Peninsula, Java, Borneo. 111. TROPIDONOTUS TIGRINUS Boie. Hab. Manchuria, China, Japan, Cochinchina, Siam (Blgr. Cat, Snakes, i. p. 249). |