﻿178 



COLUBRIDtE 



entering the eye. Four or five lower labials in 

 contact with the anterior chin-shields, which are 



shorter than the 

 posterior. 



Scales with a 

 single apical pit, 

 very narrow, in 

 nineteen rows. 

 Ventral shields 

 very distinctly an- 

 gulate laterally, 

 205 to 218 ; anal 



Fig. 20 (after Sordelli) 



divided ; subcaudals 98 to 132. 



Coloration. — Olive in front, with a few large black, 

 white- or yellow-edged spots on each side, the anterior 

 of which is sometimes confluent with its fellow and 

 forms a nuchal collar, as in the specimen figured on 

 Plate V. ; the greater part of the body and tail 

 uniform pale olive, yellowish, or reddish above, 

 yellowish-white beneath. Head uniform olive-brown 

 above, the labial, preocular, and postocular shields 

 yellowish-white. 



Total Length. — 3 feet, rarely nearly 4 feet. 



Distribution. — Southern Europe east of the Adriatic, 

 as far north as Dalmatia, Asia Minor, Cis- and Trans- 

 Caucasia, North- Western Persia, Cyprus, and Syria. 

 Has also been recorded from Lower Egypt. 



Habits. — This snake is even more lively than 

 Z. gemonensiSf and does not stand captivity long. It 



