348 JOURNAL, BOMB A Y NA TURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. XIX. 



ioriy, and no oblique black stripes on the sides of the forebody. None of the 

 snpralabials show black posterior margins There is a broad black conspicuous 

 band from the eye continued well down the body. Three supralaLials usually 

 totich the eye, xiz., the 4th, 5th and Gth. The vertebral enlargement is sudden 

 and due to the conflaence of two or three scales on the nape. The vertebral 

 shields in mid body are as broad as long or broader. The maxillary teeth num- 

 ber 2U to 'l'^, and the most posterior are compressed, and rather longer than 

 the preceding. The nasal bones too are di^lincj in form. 



Simutea cijclurw;. —Cantor. 



I got two specimens from Tindhaiia and saw one in St. Joseph's College 

 collec.ion. All belong to variety B of Boulenger's Catalogue. In one of my 

 specimens the costals were 19 in anterior and midbody, 17 at a point two hetds- 

 leng hs before the anus. In the other th3 lepidosis was very peculiar, the 

 costals beinsr 17 anteriorly becoming 19, and then again 17 and 19 several 

 times over ; 19 in midbody, and 15 behind at a point two heads-lengths before 

 tha anus. As in Zjocijs and some Zamenls, I consider that the 3rd supralabial 

 is divided in this snake, and therefore touches the eye as well as the 4th and 

 5th shields of that series. The uppei- division of this shield is misnamed a 

 subocular. 



Simotes alhocinctus. —Cantor. 



Of 3R specimens received. 25 were I'n.m Pabhok, 12 from Tindharia and 

 1 from Darjeeling ; 26 of these were of the A variety of Boulenger's Catalogue, 

 i.e., typUa, 16 being from Pashok and 10 from Tindharia, )] examples 

 belouLjed to vanety C of Boulenger's Catalogue, 9 of these beiag fiom 

 Pashok and 2 from Tindharia. My Darjeeling specimen was also of this 

 variety. 



The two varieties are very distinct, so much so that to one unacquainted 

 with the subject of ophiology they would certainly be taken to be difierent 

 species. I have never seen any forms connecting the two. 



In variety A there is a great variation in the ground colour which varies 

 irrespective of age from a dark-brown to a bright berry-red, \\\\ latter hue 

 being especially bright in the flanks. In more than one specimen the colour 

 was a very beau'.iful shade of pink very like that of a boiled prawn. There 

 are from 21 to 25 light, dark-edged, conspicuous and well defined cross-bars on 

 the body, 5 to 8 on the tail. These are narrow, and end laterally close to the 

 ventrals. In light specimens they are quite white, in darker specimens buff, or 

 more often asliy-gi-ey, and often bordered with black. In some of the speci- 

 mens, the brown ones especially, longitudinal streaks may be more or less dis- 

 tinctly traceable. These resemble those in cyclitrus consisting of an upper 

 broad dark band 4 or 5 scales broad, and separated more or less distinctly by 

 a light vertebral streak, and a lower narrow dark band on the 3rd and 4th or 4tb 

 and 5th rows above the ventrals. 



In the dark specimens the usual sagittate Simotes markings are blackish - 

 brown, but in light specimens ihey are light edged with blackish. In the 



