AUSTRALIAN SNAKES. 67 



Desert Snake. Hojiloccphalus minor. 



(Plate VI, fig. 8.) 

 Hoplocephalus minor, Oiintlier, Ann. and Magaz. of Nat. Hist., 3rd Series, vol. XII, p. 362. 

 Scales in 15 rows. 

 Abdominal plates, 125 to 128. 

 One anal plate. 

 Subcaudal plates, 54 to 59. 

 Total length, from 18 to 24 inches. 

 The following is Dr. Giinther's original description : — 



Scales in fifteen rows ; vertical shield not quite twice as long as 

 broad ; temporals 2-{-2-|-2. Uniform olive-brown above, yellowish below. 



This species is similar to H. superhus, but it remains much smaller. 

 The head is rather small, of moderate length and width, not depressed. 

 The lower of the two anterior temporals is small, smaller than the last 

 labial. The chin-shields of the posterior pair are separated from each other 

 by scales. Ventral shields, 125-128 {H. superbus, 148-153) ; subcaudals 

 fifty-nine in the male, fifty-four in the female. All the lower parts are 

 yellowish, each ventral shield having a blackish base. 



An adult (pregnant) female is 17^ inches long, the tail measuring 4 

 inches. All other British Museum specimens are still smaller, although 

 mature. Tliis species inhabits S. W. Australia, whilst H. superbus proves 

 to be a Tasmanian species. 



With regard to the coloration of this snake, it will perhaps be better 

 to describe one of the specimens in the Australian Museum collection, as 

 they are probably better preserved than those in the British Museum. The 

 vertical is about the same size and form as in a young H. superbus, but the 

 scales are more imbricated, the outer rows not so large, and the chin-shields 

 much more elongate. The head of an adult S. minor is much smaller than 

 that of a young H. superbus of the same size, and there is a distinct half 

 collar, just behind the head, which is very plain in young specimens ; in 

 old subjects this mark takes the form of two light sj)ots behind the 

 termination of the mouth. The ventrals are black-edged, and the marks 

 much broader in the middle. The Museum specimens were obtained by 

 Mr. George Masters, at King George's Sound. 



