108 Catalogue of Reptiles inhabiting the 



Elaps nigromaculatus, Cantor. (See Plate XL, Fig. 7.) 



Syn. — Calliophis gracilis, Gray : 111. Ind. Zool. (YouDg.) 



" Probablemeut nouvelie espece d'Elaps," Schlegel : Essay, p. 451. ( 1- ) 

 Elaps nigromaculatus, Cantor : Spicil. 



Head aoove yellowish brown, each shield with a pale black spot in 

 the middle ; lips and throat yellowish white, spotted with pale black. 

 Ground colour of the trunk and tail reddish light grey, longitudinally 

 divided by a central black line with small round, black, white-edged 

 spots about an inch apart ; on each side two parallel black lines, the 

 lower of which bordering the two lowest series of scales of the sides, 

 which are white edged with black, so as to appear longitudinally inter- 

 sected by two black lines. All the lateral black and white lines are on 

 each side intersected by a series of large rounded (the anterior pair 

 elongated), black spots with white edges, placed in pairs, opposite each 

 other, but in quincunx order with the smaller black spots of the dorsal 

 line. Beneath alternately yellowish white or pale citrine, and iridescent 

 black, both colours nearly equally divided. Tail at the root, and near the 

 apex with a broad transversal black band, edged with white, both conti- 

 nued on the vermilion lower surface, and there, between them, a third 

 similar band. Iris black, pupil round ; tongue bluish grey. 



Young. — Marked like the adult, but the ground-colour of the back 

 and tail inclines to light reddish brown. 



Scuta 238 to 311 ; Scutella 21 to 28. 



Habit. — Pinang, Singapore. 



In general appearance this species very closely resembles Elaps 

 intestinalis, from which it is distinguished by the following characters.* 

 The two pairs of frontal shields are remarkably disproportionate, the 

 frontals (proper) being much the larger : next to the occipitals they are 

 the largest of the crown-shields. The nearly equilateral, hexagonal 

 vertical, and the supra-orbitals are remarkably small : more so than in 

 any other species of this genus. The occipitals are very narrow elon- 

 gated ; their external margin bordered by two pairs of shields of which 

 the anterior, the larger, covers the temples, and is beneath bounded by 



* The (magnified?) representation of the head of " Calliophis gracilis," Fig-. 2. 111. 

 Jliil. Zool, is in every particular incorrect. 



