IS 



Length — About two feet. Tail five inches. 



Shape — Head : thick, large, \evy distinct from neck. The 



mouth can be but slightly expanded. There 



is no mental gfroove. 

 Body : compressed and slender. 

 Tail : slender ; moderate or short. 

 Eye : moderate with vertical pupil. 

 Head shields — Regular. 

 A single nasal. 



No loreal but a large prse-ocular. 

 The sublinguals or chin shields are unsymmetri- 



cal. There are three pairs rather large. Note 



absence of mental groove. 



Scales — 15, smooth. The vertebral row of scales is 

 enlarged and hexagonal like the krait (Fig. 7). 



Ventrals — 188 to 194 ; anal entire. Sub-caudals 70 — 87 ; 



double. 

 Colour — Brown above with vertical blackish bars on 

 the sides. 

 A black line from above the eye to the nape, and 

 another from behind the eye to the angle of 

 the mouth. 

 Yellowish below, dotted with brown. 



Habitat — Eastern Himalayas, Assam, Khasi and Naga 

 Hills. It is not uncommon in these localities 

 and care must be taken not to mistake it for a 

 krait. 



ABLABES CALAMARIA (No English name).* 



Length — A small snake. Grows to about 12 inches, tail 

 one-fourth of the whole length. 



* Cyclophis Calamaria (NicUolson), 



