176 
THE POISONOUS SNAKES OF THE ANGLO-EGYPTIAN SUDAN 
Black-necked 
spitting-snake 
Anterior teeth of the lower jaw longest. Head not or but slightly distinct from the neck ; eye 
moderate or rather large, with round pupil. Scales smooth, in 15-25 longitudinal rows (or 
more on the neck). Body cylindrical, rather elongate; tail moderate. Africa, West and 
South Asia. 
Naja hajce, Linnaeus (Plate XVII., fig. 1) 
G. A. Bouleuger, Oatuluijiie of the Snakes in the liritish Museum (Natural History), 
Vol. III., 1896, page 374. 
J. Anderson, “ Zoology of Egypt, I. Eeptiles and Batrachians,” 1898, page 312, 
Plate XLIV. 
F. Werner, “ Ergehuisse der mit Subvention aus der Erbschaft Treitl unternommenen 
Zoologischen Forschungsreise, Dr. F. Werner’s nach dem iigyptischen Sudan und Nord 
Uganda.” XII., Die Reptilien und Amphibien. Sitz. Ber. Akad. lUm-. Wien. Bd. CXVI., 
December 1st, 1907. 
Sixth (rarely seventh) of the seven (rarely eight) upper labials largest and deepest, 
in contact with lower postocular. Rostral as deep as broad or slightly broader than deep, 
the portion visible from above measuring one half to two thirds its distance from the 
frontal; one or several more or less enlarged occipital scales behind the parietals ; one 
2 )reocular, not in contact with the iuternasal ; two or three jjostoculars, two or three 
suboculars, seiJarating the eye from the labials; temijorals 1 + 2 or 3 ; 21-23 scales across 
the neck, 19-21 across the middle of the body. Ventrals, 191-210; subcaudals, 53-67. 
Yellowish or olive to dark brown or blackish above, uniform or with darker or lightei' 
s^jots ; lower jrarts yellowish, with a brown or black band on the neck, or dark brown to 
blackish; head sometimes blackish. Both the sjrecimens from the 8udan w’hich I have 
examined are uniformly dark brown. 
This highly p)oisonous snake attains a length of 2 metres (tail 280 mm.). It is of 
a very irascible and aggressive temperament, feeds on small mammals (mice or rats), birds, 
and frogs, and has a very wide distribution, being known all over Northern Africa, North 
of the Sahara, in Southern Palestine, South Arabia and East Africa to Zululand 
(cf. (t. .1. Bouleuijer, m., Ann. Natal Gov. Mus., Vol. I., I’art 3, Way, 1908, 2^. 230). In the 
Sudan it is knowm from two localities not far from each other, viz. from the lower Sobat 
(Doled) Hill) and the White Nile, betw'een the Sobat and Bahr-El-Zeraf (Khor Attar) ; 
the first specimen is 2 Ji'eserved in the Khartoum Museum (Gordon College), the other in the 
Vienna Museum. Nothing is known about its S 2 )itting faculty. 
Naja niyricollis, Reinhardt 
Black-necked spitting-snake (Plate XVIII., fig. 2) 
Boulenger, 2). 378; Anderson, 2). 322, Plate XLV. ; Werner, p. 1883. 
Rostral once-and-a-half as broad as deep, the portion visible from above measuring 
one third to half its distance from the frontal; no enlarged occi23ital ; two (rarely one) 
23r£e- and three 23ostoculars; temporals, 2 or 3 + 4 or 5 ; six (rarely seven) U2)23ei' 
labials, third (or third and fourth) dee 2 )est and entering the eye, last longest ; 21 to 29 
scales across the neck, 17 to 25 across the middle of the body; ventrals, 183 to 228; sub¬ 
caudals, 55 to 68. Coloration, very variable; the Sudan and North Uganda S23eciniens 
stand near to the variety called viossamldca by Peters (Monatsheri elite der Berliner 
Akadeinie der Wissenschaften, 1854, 2). 025); they are olive grey above, but the scales are 
not black-edged ; neither is the skin between the scales distinctly black. The throat and 
U2323er labials are dark, the lower surface of neck wuth dark and yellow transverse bands ; 
the remainder of the lower surface yellowish or greenish olive; S 2 )eekled or ventrals 
margined posteriorly with a lighter hue. 
