198 COLUBRID.E 



from the preocular. Nasal rarely undivided ; loreal 

 longer than deep. One (very rarely two) pre- and two 

 postoculars. Temporals 2 + 2 or 2 + 3 (very rarely 

 1 + 2). Upper labials seven (rarely eight), third and 

 fourth (or fourth and fifth) entering the eye. Four 

 lower labials (rarely three) in contact with the anterior 

 chin-shields, which are as long as or longer than the 

 anterior. 



Scales with one or two apical pits, the pit usually 

 single on the back and paired on the sides, in nineteen 

 (rarely twenty-one) rows.* Ventral shields 153 to 



199 ; anal divided (rarely entire) ; subcaudals 41 to 70. 

 Coloration. — Grey, brown, or reddish above, with 



small blackish, dark brown, or brick-red spots usually 

 disposed in pairs, sometimes forming cross-bars ; 

 sometimes with one or three lighter stripes; one or two 

 black dots precede on each scale the single or paired 

 apical pit ; frequently two blackish, dark brown, or 

 brick-red stripes on the nape, usually confluent with 

 a large dark blotch on the occiput ; the top of the 

 head occasionally nearly entirely blackish, especially 

 in the young ; a dark streak on each side of the head, 

 from the nostril to the angle of the mouth, passing 

 through the eye, sometimes extending along the side 

 of the neck or even of the whole body. Lower 

 parts red, orange, brown, grey, or black, uniform or 

 speckled or closely spotted with black and white, the 

 sides often lighter (Plate IX.). 



* The only specimen with twenty-one rows I have examined 

 is a male from Albano, near Rome (Genoa Museum). 



