105 



CORONELLA DOLIATA. 



Plate XXIV. 



Characters. Head small, flattened above, with the snout rounded; neck 

 slightly contracted; body elongated, rather slender; scarlet above, and marked 

 with black rings, in pairs; between each pair is a white ring. PI. 174, Sc. 40. 



SrNONrMES. Coronella coccinea, Schlegel, Phys. des Serp., torn. ii. p. 57, pi. ii. fig. 11. 



Description. The head is rather small, flattened above, with the snout rounded; 

 the vertical plate is pentagonal, with an acute angle behind; the superior orbital 

 are oblong-quadrilateral, broadest behind, and not projecting over the eye; the 

 occipital are polygonal, and very large; the frontal are broad and pentagonal, 

 narrowest externally, where they descend to join a tolerably large quadrilateral, 

 loral plate. The anterior frontal are also quadrilateral, smaller than the posterior, 

 and broadest externally. The rostral plate is large, heptagonal, and concave 

 below. There are two nasal plates, the posterior square, the anterior lunated 

 behind for the nostril, which does not enter the posterior, but comes out at 

 its anterior border. There is a single anterior orbital plate, oblong, slightly 

 concave behind, and two small, sub-round, posterior orbital. The inferior wall of 

 the orbit is made up of the third and fourth superior labial plates, of which there 

 are seven. 



The nostrils are lateral, and near the snout. The eyes are small, the pupil 

 reddish-grey and bright. The neck is but slightly contracted, and is covered 

 with small, smooth, sub-hexagonal scales. The body is long, tolerably stout, and 

 covered above with scales similar to those of the neck, but larger. The tail is 

 rather short, thick at its root, but soon becomes smaller, and terminates in a tip. 

 Vol. III.— 14 



