266 OPHIDIA. 



I have examined two specimens of this species, one from Sikkim, the other from Nepal, 

 both perfectly alike. The former is 31 inches long, the tail measuring 8 inches. 



An upper and lateral \iew of the head have been given, from the Sikkim specimen, of the 

 natural size. 



Tropidonotus angusticeps. 



Tropidonotus angusticeps, Blyth, Journ. As. Soc. Beng. 1855, xxiii. p. 295. 



Head narrow, not broader than the neck, little depressed. vScales in seventeen rows. 

 Ventrals 167-172; subcaudals 57-67. Two or three (four) prseorbitals, four (five) post- 

 orbitals. Colour (in spirits) plumbeous above, uniformly spotted with black throughout; 

 below whitish, more or less variegated with black on the hinder half; head without mark- 

 ings, but a V-like mark on the nape, with the apex towards the occiput, becoming obsolete 

 in adults. A specimen with four prse- and five post-orbitals is remarkable for having no 

 dark markings above, but some indistinct pale spots. 



Length of an adult 41 inches, of which the tail is 8| inches. Inhabits Assam and Arakan. 

 I have not seen this species. 



Tropidonotus stolatus. 



Coluber stolatus, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 379. 



Russell, Ind. Serp. i. pi. 10; ii. pi. 15. B (young), and pi. 19. 



Tropidonotus stolatus, i?oie, Isis,l827, p. 535. Schleg. Phys. Serp. p. 317. Cantor, Mai. Kept. p. 90. 



Amphiesma stolatum, Dum. ^- Bibr. vii. p. 727. 



Head rather narrow, body and tail of moderate length, eye of moderate size. Scales in 

 nineteen rows. Ventrals 125-161*; subcaudals 50-79, Anterior frontals pointed in front ; 

 occipitals rounded behind, not much longer than vertical. One preeocular, extending on to the 

 upper surface of the crown ; three (four) postoculars. Loreal square. Eight upper labials, 

 of which the third, fourth, and fifth enter the orbit ; the third and fourth are sometimes 

 united into one shield; temporals large, 1 + 1. Each maxillary is armed with seventeen 

 teeth, which become larger and more distant posteriorly ; at some distance behind this series 

 there are one or two much larger teeth. Greenish or brownish olive, with numerous narrow, 

 serrated or reticulated cross bars, intersected by two yellow or white longitudinal dorsal 

 bands. Lower parts white ; the anterior ventral shields have frequently a black dot on each 

 side. Head brown above, the shields more or less distinctly edged with black ; praeocular 



* In a specimen from China 125, in a male fi'om Madras 128, in a female 138, in one from Ceylon 144, 

 in one from Nepal 157, in one from Khasya 161. Cantor found in specimens from Pinang 143-156. 



