ON THE COMMON INDIAN SNAKES. 229 



Flower mentions it as fairly abundant in Siam and records it as 

 far south as Kedah in the Malay Peninsula, where he says it is 

 replaced by variety A. 



" E. — Like the preceding, but with a series of large coral-red, or 

 orange blotches along the back." 



Ceylon, Bengal. 



The plate in Russell's work is evidently this colour variety. Evans 

 and I met with this in Burma, but it is decidedly scarcer than type 

 D, which is the common one in that Province. The orange spots are 

 not nearly so brilliant as I have seen in Ceylon specimens. 



Figures 1, 2, 3 and 4 are taken from a good example from 

 Kulhatty. (Nilgiri Hill).* 



" F. — Pale olive above, with regular black cross-bars ; some of the 

 black scales with yellow shafts : whitish olive beneath, with a small 

 black spot on the side of each ventral." 



Ceylon. 



" G. — Black above, with narrow yellowish cross-bars : whitish 

 olive beneath, with a small black spot on each side of each ventral.'' 



Philippines. 



" H. — Olive above, with the markings much effaced ; pale yellowish 

 beneath." 



Celebes, Philippines. 



To these I would add another — 



I. — Similar to variety E, but differing in the vertebral spots 

 being yellow instead of red, and in the absence of cross-bars. 



This variety is figured in our plate figs. 5 and 6. The specimen was 

 captured at Barisal in the Gangetic Delta, and is in our Society's 

 collection in Bombay. 



Identification. — This is an easy matter if attention be directed to 

 scale characters. 



The ridged (heeled) condition of the ventral shields taken ivith a 

 vertebral row of scales in no xoay different from its adjacent rows, 

 establishes the diagnosis. The ridged character of the ventral shields 

 demands some qualifying remarks. It must be impressed upon the 

 student that the keels in Chrysopelea are sharp and pronounced, 



* Figure 4 is represented unduly broad in order to show the whole breadth of the ventrals 

 with their keels ; these latter hovcever are not made conspicuous enough. The outline 

 drawing shows them better. 



