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COLUBER TAXISPILOTUS. 



Plate XXV. 



Characters. Head oval, elongated, covered with large plates above; body 

 elongated, but thick, light chocolate-brown, with a triple series of subquadrate 

 and oblong black spots. PI. 144, sc. 79. 



Description. The head is elongated, oval, flattened above, and covered with 

 large plates. The vertical plate is very regularly quadrilateral; the superior 

 orbital is irregularly oblong, obtusely pointed anteriorly. The occipital are broad, 

 rounded, and notched irregularly posteriorly; behind these are two large temporal 

 plates on each side. The frontal are regularly hexagonal; the anterior frontal 

 are triangular, with their apices truncated. The rostral plate is sub-pentagonal, 

 rounded above, concave below. The nasal plates are double; the anterior hollowed 

 behind, and the posterior concave in front, to form the nostril. There are two 

 quadrilateral posterior orbital plates, nearly of the same size; there is but one 

 anterior orbital, nearly a parallelogram. The inferior wall of the orbit is com- 

 pleted by the superior labial plate; there are eight of these, quadrilateral, the 

 smallest anterior. The nostrils are large, latero-superior, and near the snout. 

 The eyes are large and prominent; the pupil dark; the iris gray. The posterior 

 part of the head and neck is covered with small carinated scales. The neck is 

 slightly contracted. The body is elongated, but large, and covered with hexagonal 

 and very strongly carinated scales, even to the margin of the plates of the abdomen. 

 The tail is thick at the root, but soon becomes cylindrical, and is very long. 



Colour. The head is dark brown; the whole superior surface of the neck and 

 Vol. II.— 15 



