138 



UEOPELTID.E. 



very small; prjefrontals in contact with nasals. Mandible with 

 coronoid bone. Both jaws toothed; teeth small and few. 



Palate usually toothless ; a few palatine teeth sometimes present 

 in MelanopMdium and Platyplectrurus. 



Skull of Silyhura grandis. 



Head small and not distinct from neck ; eye small or very small, 

 with round pupil, liody cylindrical, rigid ; tail very short. 



Burrowing Snakes of small size, restricted to Ceylon and the 

 mountains of Peninsular India, or to the heavy forests at the 

 immediate foot of the mountains, as far north as 19°. 



Synopsis of the Genera. 



I. Eye in the ocular shield ; fourth labial in contact with the 

 parietal. 



A. No mental groove. 



1. No supraocular shield. 



Tail obliquely truncated, ending in a large, rugose, circular or oval, 

 flat shield 1. Uropeltis, p. 139. 



Tail ending in a large convex rugose shield, which is neither trun- 

 cated nor spinose at the end .... 2. Rhinophis, p. 140. 



