92 HERPETOLOGICAL NOTES. 



Colour {sjnrits) : — Scales of upper-surface fawn-brown, 

 each with a yellow centre ; on the sides of the body the 

 scales are only brown edged, the row next to the ventrals 

 not coloured. Upper -surface of head rich chocolate brown. 

 A broad nuchal band of yellowish in which area the scales 

 are spotted with brown ; behind this, dark brown fading 

 to the colour of the back. Upper-lips and under-surfaces 

 creamy white. 



Total length of type . . . . . . 255 mm. 



Length of tail .. .. .. .. 45 mm. 



Localities : — A single adult specimen from Port Darwin, 

 Northern Territory, North Australia. This specimen formed 

 part of a number of collections forwarded by Mr. Hugh 

 W. Christie, Lighthouse-keeper, at Point Charles, and which 

 I hope to deal with subsequently. 



P. christieanus , Mihi, is easily distinguished from P. 

 diadema, Schlegel, by having 17 rows of body scales, a larger 

 eye, a narrower snout and frontal shield, and by having the 

 prseocular shield forming an extensive suture with the 

 anterior edge of the frontal ; this suture is of about the 

 same extent as that between the prsefrontal and frontal, 

 an unique condition. In P. diadema the prseocular in 

 one or two cases just touches the antero -lateral angle of 

 the frontal, the suture being immeasurably small, but 

 quite the typical form is that in which it is separated from 

 the frontal, the supraocular forming a suture with the 

 praefrontal. When compared side by side, the narrower 

 snout of my new species is a noticeable feature. Instead 

 of the head being glossy black and the nuchal spot sharply 

 defined as in P. diadema, it is brownish, the nuchal collar 

 being spotted with the same colour. 



In the British Museum Catalogue of Snakes, Dr. 

 Boulenger records P. diadema from " North Australia " ; 

 perhaps this specimen belongs to P. christieanus, which at 

 a cursory glance might be mistaken for that species. Messrs. 

 Lonnberg and Andersson* however, mention a specimen 

 which they refer to P. diadema from Western Australia, 

 which undoubtedly belongs to this species. I think it 

 quite possible that the true P. diadema does not occur 

 in Western Australia. 



' * Lonnb. and Anderss. :— Kongl. Sv. Vet. Handl. Bd. 52, No. 3, 1913, 

 p. 14. 



