Zoohgy.l 



NATtTRAL HISTORY OF VICTORIA. 



[Reptilet. 



Plate 23, Fia. 1. 



DIEMENIA SUPERCILIOSA (Fischer). 



The CoiMMON Brown Snake. 



[Genus DIEMENIA (Gray). (Sub-kingd. Vertebrata. Class ReptUia. Order Ophidia. 

 Fam. Elapsida;.) 



Gen. Char. — Body and fail moderately stout ; head subquadrate, muzzle blunt. Plates : 

 rostral moderate, vertex plate narrow ; loreal replaced by deflected posterior frontal, anterior 

 ocular, second labial, and posterior nasal ; oculars one, sometimes two, anterior, and two pos- 

 terior ; two nasals with nostril between them. Scales smooth, 15 or 17 rows on back ; sub- 

 caudals in two rows. A row of small, equal, solid teeth behind the grooved fang. Australasia 

 and New Guinea ] 



Description. — Form: body moderately stout, cylindrical; head only mo- 

 derately exceeding the width of the neck, flat above, sides nearly vertical, con- 

 verg-ing to a narrow, rounded, blunt muzzle. /Scales: 17 rows of scales across middle 

 of back, large, flat, rhombic, and smooth; ventral plates, 190 to 216; subcaudals, 

 57 to 73; anal plate double. Plates: rostral shield one-fourth broader at base than 

 high, obtuse-angled behind ; anterior frontals small, quadrangular, nearly twice as 

 wide as long ; posterior frontals nearly twice the length of the anterior ones ; vertex 

 plate hexagonal, anterior angle so obtuse as to be scarcely marked, the length 

 equalling- the inner sides of the anterior and posterior frontals, the width in front 

 nearly twice the width behind, or about two-thirds of the length. Parietal and 

 occipital shields moderate. Color: color of head and upper part of body and tail 

 nearly uniform olive-brown or warm sepia, with a slight bronze reflection ; the lower 

 surface of a lighter tint of pale yellowish-grey, the edges of the scales darker 

 colored, with a glassy lustre ; the anterior part of the belly freckled with pale- 

 brownish spots, the hinder part dotted with grey ; eyes black, with a yellow line 

 round pupil; skin between the scales greyish. Teeth: 17 small, solid, equal pala- 

 tine teeth on the left side, and 18 on the right in the specimen (Fig. 1); 6 small 

 solid teeth behind the fang on the left side, and 7 on the right in same specimen. 



The following are the numbers of scales in seven specimens counted in the 

 Museum collection : — 



• Third and foorth subcaadal plates single. t Tip of tail absent. 



§ Second, third, fonrth, and fifth single. 



X Four first single. 



[11 ] 



