STI'DIKS IX AUSTKAl.IAX K KPTILKS. 



No. •_>.* 



BY 



J. II. K ivi.iioi.N, Zoologist, Anstialiaii Museum. 



(I'lates x.w.-xxvi., jiihI Kiguies 1-9). 



The t'olluvving fjapei' deals with S[>eciineiis contained in the Austialiau 

 Museum and includes a new variety ot" Ndtecliia sciif(itii.-<, t'tom Kangaroo 

 Island, South Australia ; a re-examinatioii of Kiefft's types of lioidoce- 

 ph((Ja>! (f/er, and DfiilxdiiiK onuda ; a discussion on the status of i>e*/(//'p/(f^>//v.<>- 

 schlenrkeri, Ogilhy ; and the recording of l'>:e/ider/ii)t niorfoneusi^^, De Vis, 

 and Deiilsdin'ii nmr/ilafd var. iJerii^i, Waite and Longman, from north- 

 western New South Wales. Where necessary, re-descriptions and Kgures 

 have been added. 



NoTKCHis Al'Ki;, Kreft. 



(Plate XXV., tigs. 5-7). 



Hoplucepliuluf! (iter, Ki-efft, Fmc. Zooi. Soc, 1866, p. 370, and Snakes of 

 Australia, 1869, p. 55, pi. xi., tig. '2. 



Having examined Kiefft's type of Roidoceji/nilnf! afer, I have no 

 hesitati(m in reinstating the species, but as Noterln'.-- ater, under which 

 genus Ml'. Boulenger placed it.^ On comparing the type with the 

 original description and Hguie, 1 found that it did not quite agree witli 

 either in some of the details of the head shields; furthermore, Krefft's 

 own figure and description do not accord with each other. The colour, as 

 described by Krefft, together with man}' errors in his description, has led 

 several authors to place this species as a melanotic form of Nutecltis 

 sciitafns. As I am fortunate enough to have the type on hand, I am able 

 to extend my examination, for comparative purposes, to a large series of 

 Nofechis .■<n(t(iti(x in the Australian Museum collection, and I find that 

 more than one character, quite apai't from the colouiatit)n, shows that 

 Krefft's specimen is a very distinct species. 



Co.MPAKATlVK. 



Teiiipornls. — In Notechi^ ^cutittiis: the lower anterior tem[)oral is the 

 largest and it is wedged in between the fifth and sixth upper labials ; 

 while in Nutechl--< ater the upper posterioi; temporal is the largest and the 

 lower anterior is wedged in between the fourth and fifth upper labials. 



• For No. 1, see Eee-. Aust. Miis., Vol. xiii.. No. 3, 192(i. p. 110. 



1 The errors in Krett't'.s desiTiptiou led Mr. Bouleng'er to place //. ater in the 

 synunyniy of Nolerhis srvfatns; shc Brit. Mns. Cat. Snakes, 189H, iii., p. :iol. 



