GERAHDIA. 379 



Total length 3 feet ; tail 4*5 iuches. 



Hah. Eivers and coasts of Pegu, the Nicobars, the Malay 

 Peniusula and Archipelago, Sumatra, Java, Cochinchina, New 

 Guinea, and the north coast of Australia. At Pinang, Cantor 

 says, it is numerous not only in fresh water and estuaries, but iu 

 the .sea at some distance from the shore, \\here it is sometimes 

 taken in fishing-nets. It is of sluggish, not fierce habits, and 

 feeds upon fishes and crustaceans. 



Genus GERARDIA, 

 Gray, Cat. Su. p. 77, 1849. 



Maxillary teeth lU, followed by two small grooved fangs. Head 

 suiall, not distinct from neck ; e_ye suiall, ^ith a ertically subellip- 

 tical pupil ; head-shields large ; nostril iu the middle of an undi- 

 A'ided nasal ; a single iuteruasal, separating the nasals ; loreal 

 present. Body elongate, cylindrical ; scales smooth, in 17 rows, 

 without a])ical pits; ventrals well developed, not keeled; tail 

 moderate ; subcaudals in two rows. 



A single species. 



471. Gerardia prevostiana. 



Coluber ( Iloiuiilopsis) prevostianus, Eyd. c^ Gvrv. in Gucr. Mat/. 



Zool. CI. iii, 18o7, ]). Ij, \)\. xv ; iid. Voy. Favurite, v, ZooL p. 70, 



pi. xxix. 

 Geraida bicolor, Gray, Vat, >Sn. p. 77 ; Gunth. A. M. N. H. (4) i, 



18G8, p. 4i>l ; Theub. Cat. p. 180. 

 Campylodoii prevostianimi, JDum. ^- Bihr. Eip. Gen. vii, p. 004 ; 



Jan, Icon. Ophid. 30, pi. vi, fig. 3; F. Midler, Vcrh. nat. Ges. 



Basel, vii, 1885, p. 700. 

 Ileleophis flavescens, F. Midler, t. c. 1884, p. 28G, pi. v, tig-. 2. 



Prontal a little longer than broad, shorter than its distance from 

 the end of the snout, or than the parietals ; loreal slightly longer 

 than deep, a little smaller than the nasal ; one pne- and two post- 

 ocidars ; temporals 1 -)-2 ; upper labials 8, fourth entering the eye ; 

 4 lower labials in contact with the anterior chin-shields, which are 

 much larger than the posterior. Scales in 17 rows. A'entrals 140- 

 15b ; anal divided ; subcaudals 31-34. Uniform dark olive abo\ e ; 

 three outer rows of scales whitish ; upper li}) white, rostral dark 

 olive ; -Neutrals and subcaudals whitish, with dark edges. 



Total length 10 iuches ; tail 2. 

 Hah. Pegu *. 



* Theobald adds Ceylon to the habitat of this species, on the authority of 

 Ferguson ; but on i-eferring to the source of his informatiou, yiz. Ferguson's 

 ' Reptile Fauna of Ceylon,' a tract published for private distribution (Colombo, 

 1887), all we find is this : — " Gcrarda bicolur, Gray. A single siDecimen from 

 the Asiatic Society Museum, but I question if it be a Ceylon Snake." The fact 



