AIJSTEALIAN SNAKES. 33 



^SPIDIOTES, Kreffl. 



Crown covered with broad shields, reaching behind the eyes ; the 

 remaining part of the head scaly ; labial shields without pits, the front 

 ones high and narrow, the hinder ones loAver and broad. Nostrils lateral, 

 in the middle of a plate ; two loreals ; two anterior and four posterior 

 oculars ; superciliaries broad, rather prominent above the eye ; nasal shield 

 very large, much produced backwards, and deeply grooved on its lower 

 edge. Scales smooth, in fifty-two series on the middle of the body ; 

 ventral plates rather narrow ; subcavidals entire, except the last ten or 

 twelve which are divided. Tail conical, prehensile, ending in a blunt 

 point. Head rather high, of moderate size ; teeth not very large (smaller 

 than in Morelia). Body thick and compressed. 



Black-headeb Snake. Aspidiotes melanocephahis. 



(Plate III and Plate V, fig. 4.) 

 Aspidiotes melanocephalus, Krefft. Proc. Zool. Soc, July 2Sth, 1864. 



Scales in 52 rows. 



Abdominals, 330. 



One anal plate. 



Subcaudals, Slff- 



Total length, 8 feet or more. 



Head, 3 inches. 



Tail, 12 inches. 



Head rather high ; body thick and comj)ressed ; tail conical, taper- 

 ing, prehensile, ending in a blunt point ; anal spurs small ; ten upper 

 labials, the sixth coming mto the orbit ; two anterior and four posterior 

 ocular shields ; two loreals, the second nearest to the eye very small ; one 

 nasal, pierced by the nostril ; eye moderate, pupil elliptical, erect. Three 

 pairs of frontal shields, the middle pair longest ; vertical broad, the largest 

 shield of the head, with an obtuse angle in front and an acute one behind ; 

 sides rounded ; superciliaries large, and prominent above the eyes ; occipitals 

 distinct, but smaller than the vertical ones, and forked and rounded behind; 

 the first pair of frontals small, and triangular ; the second pair five-sided, 

 and nearly as large again as the first ; the third smaller than the second 

 larger than the first, and quadrangular. Of the fourteen lower labial shields, 

 the first seven are narrow and elongate, the rest broad ; no groove upon 

 I 



