236 OPHIDIA, 



CORONELLA. 



Coronella, sp., Laurenti. 



Body cylindrical, not compressed in the middle, stout ; head of moderate 

 length, rather flat, and distinct from neck, with the snout rounded ; tail of 

 moderate length ; eye moderately large, with round pupil. Rostral shield 

 of normal size and form ; two pairs of frontals ; nostril between two nasals ; 

 one loreal ; one anterior and two or three posterior oculars. Scales smooth, 

 in (fifteen) seventeen to twenty-three rows ; subcaudals two-rowed. Pos- 

 terior maxillary tooth longest, smooth, and in a continuous series with the 

 anterior ones, or grooved. 



Although species of this genus were known from almost every part of the temperate and 

 tropical regions, they were thought to be entirely absent in tropical India ; therefore, 

 when I saw the first specimen said to be from the Dekkan, I was much tempted to doubt 

 the correctness of the statement. The British Museum received that specimen from the 

 collection of the East India Company ; and although an error may have occurred, I do not 

 feel myself entitled to presume that such is really the case, more especially as the species 

 is apparently undescribed. 



CoRONELLA ORIENTALIS. 



Head rather depressed, of moderate length, scarcely distinct from neck ; body rounded, 

 slightly compressed posteriorly ; tail of moderate length. Eye of moderate size, with round 

 pupil. Rostral shield rather broader than high, just reaching the upper surface of the head ; 

 frontals of moderate size ; vertical not quite twice as long as broad, with the lateral margins 

 parallel, and with a pointed posterior angle ; occipitals not much longer than vertical. 

 Nostril between two nasals ; loreal square ; one praiorbital, reaching to the upper surface of 

 the head ; two postorbitals, the lower between the eye and the fifth and sixth labials. Eight 

 upper labials, the fourth and fifth entering the orbit; temporals 1 + 2, the anterior in contact 

 with both oculars. Two pairs of elongate chin-shields, the posterior rather shorter than the 

 anterior, which are in contact with five labials. Scales in seventeen rows, without apical 

 groove. Ventrals 163; anal bifid; subcaudals 65. Each maxillary is armed with sixteen 

 teeth, the last of which is twice as strong as the preceding, and not separated from it by an 

 interspace. Above greyish brown ; two indistinct narrow dark streaks along each side of the 

 posterior part of the trunk, confluent into one band on the side of the tail. Neck with a 

 very narrow white collar. Belly white, with subquadrangular blackish spots. 



Total length 11 inches ; head ^ inch; tail 2 inches. 



