CHRYSOPELEA RUBESCENS. 299 



rows. Ventrals 180-236 ; anal bifid; subcaudals 96-147. Head black above, with yellow 

 cross bands ; body beautifully ornamented with regular yellow or black markings, the 

 arrangement of which is subject to great variation. 



Var. a. The black colour is predominant, each scale having a yellow central spot ; the 

 yellow bands on the head are numerous and frequently broken up into spots : I have seen 

 specimens of this variety from Pinang, Sumatra, Borneo, and the Philippine Islands. 



Var. (B. The yellow colour is predouiinant, each scale being yellow veith a narrow black edge 

 and with a median black streak, the streaks forming longitudinal lines : Siam, Khasya, &c. 



Var. y. The black colour is predominant, each scale having a yellow central spot ; these 

 spots are larger on the back, forming a series of tetrapetalous flowers; five or six yellow 

 cross bands on the head, some of which are broken up into spots : Malabar, Java, Borneo. 



Var. S. Much like var. j3, but back with pairs of black cross bars ; abdomen yellow, each 

 ventral shield with a black lateral spot : Bengal, Khasya, Cochinchina, Anamallay Mountains, 

 Ceylon. 



Var. e. Back red, with pairs of black cross bars, the bands of each pair being separated 

 from each other by a narrow yellowish interval. Sides brown, with irregularly scattered black 

 dots. Belly dark green, the outer portion of each ventral shield being yellow, with a blackish 

 spot. A yellow, black-edged cross band between the hinder angles of the orbits ; a similar 

 band across the extremities of the occiput: Borneo. All these specimens are of small size*. 



Var. C Greyish olive, with narrow, serrated, equidistant black cross bands ; head black 

 above, with numerous yellow cross bauds : two specimens from Ceylon are of small size and 

 evidently immature. 



It will be seen from the notes given above that this most beautiful of all snakes has a 

 wide geographical range on the continent as well as in the Archipelago ; but it appears 

 to be limited to the tropical parts, as we have never received it from China nor from the 

 Himalayas, except from Khasya. It attains to a length of more than 4 feet, the tail being 

 one-fourth or rather more. Cantor says that it is but seldom seen in treesf ; that it is more 

 frequently found on the ground, in the grass, watching for lizards and frogs ; that it differs 

 from other tree-snakes in its being ■without the power of compressing and expanding the 

 anterior part of the body, and in its gentleness. Dillwyn, on the other hand, describes the 

 capture of one, clinging in a most extraordinary manner upon the trunk of a large tree, head 

 downwards, and without any visible means of supporting itself; when it came down it climbed 

 up another small tree with wonderful speed. I found geckoes in its stomach. 



Chrysopelea kubescens. 



Dipsas rutescens, Gray, Ind. Zool. c. fig. 



? Leptophis rubescens, Bhjth, Joirrn. As. Soc. Beng. 1855, xxiii. p. 293. 



Chrj'sopelea rubescens, Giinth. Colubr. Snakes, p. 145. 



Scales smooth, narrow, with two apical grooves, in fifteen rows, those of the vertebral 



* A specimen of this variety is called " Chrysopelea hasseltii " in Dr. P. v. Bleeker's collection, 

 t Probably because it makes too rapid a retreat to be seen. 



2 Q 2 



