174 COLUBRID^. 



Scales in 17 (rarely 19) rows. Ventrals 146-175 ; anal eutii-e ; 

 «ubcaudals 44-66. Dark brown or ochraceous above, with or 

 without small darker and lighter spots ; head usually with sym- 

 metrical longitudinal markings ; a more or less distinct dark 

 streak on each side of the head, passing through the eye ; usually 

 a dark brown band along each side ; lower parts powdered with 

 brown, and Avith dark brown spots or longitudinal lines. 



Total length 610 miUim. ; tail ]30. 



Eastern Himalayas and Southern China to the Malay Peninsula 

 and Archipelago. Eecorded from Prov. Wellesley, Perak, Pahang, 

 and Jalor. 



Ifoteworthy for its unprepossessing, viper-like appearance, this 

 snake appears to be as a rule of a lively, vicious disposition. 

 There are however exceptions, as a specimen caught by Major Wall 

 in Burma, altliough very active, and taking up a menacing attitude, 

 made no efforts to bite. This species is ovoviviparous, and feeds 

 on lizards and frogs. It is the only snake at all common at high 

 elevations over 5000 feet. 



190. Psammodynastes pictus. 



Gimth. Cat. Col. Sn. p. 251 (1858) ; Bouleug. Cat. Su. iii, p. 174 

 (1896) ; Laidlaw, P. Z. S. 1901, ii, p. 578. 



Body more slender and tail longer than in the preceding 

 Internasals as long as or a little shorter than the proefroutals 

 frontal 2^ to 3 times as long as broad ; third lower labials very 

 large, bordering the mental groove. Ventrals 152-169 ; sub- 

 eaudals 60-78. Back with dark or light spots or transverse bars 

 between two light stripes ; whitish beneath, speckled with brown, 

 or with scattered black dots. 



Total length 475 miUim. ; tail 90. 



Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Biliton, Borneo. Recorded from 

 Bukit Besar by Laidlaw. I have examined a specimen from 

 Selangor preserved in the Kuala Lumpur Museum. 



Genus DRYOPHIS. 



Dalmau, G5fvers. of Zool. Arb., Stockholm, 1822. 



Maxillary teeth 12 to 15, one or two in the middle much en- 

 larged, fang-like, and followed by an interspace, after a\ hich the 

 teeth are very small ; one or two posterior grooved fangs, situated 

 below the posterior border ot the eye ; mandibular teeth iuci-easing 

 in length to the third or fourth, which is very large, fang-like. 

 Head elongate, distinct from neck, with strong canthus rostralis 

 and concave lores ; eye rather large, with horizontal pupil ; 

 nostril in the posterior part of a single nasal ; frontal narrow, 

 more or less bell-shaped. Body much elongate and compressed ; 



