HYDROPHIS CHLORIS. 



" Head very small, of moderate width ; neck very slender, the length 

 of the thin part of the body being more than one-third of the total. 

 Rostral shield very small, much broader than long ; one post-ocular ; the 

 third upper labial is not in contact with the nasal. Two pairs of chin- 

 shields, in contact with each other. Thirty-one to thirty-three series 

 of scales round the neck ; scales on the back with a faint keel, and with 

 a small tubercle near the apex. Ventral shields distinct, especially on 

 the thin portion of the body, but not much larger than the scales of the 

 adjoining series, 473-500 in number. Four anal shields, the outer of 

 which are very large. Trunk greenish-olive above, yellowish on the 

 side and below, from fifty-nine to sixty-seven rhombic blackish bands 

 across the back, which are much narrower and fainter on the sides, and 

 extend round the belly ; their angles on the vertebral line are some- 

 times confluent, especially on the anterior part of the body, where 

 the yellowish ground-colour between the cross-bands is sometimes 

 reduced to round spots disposed in pairs. Head and anterior part of 

 the belly entirely black. Young specimens have the markings of a 

 deep black," 



