AMBLYCEPHALUS. 415 



broad snout ; eye moderate and with vertically elliptical pupil ; 

 head-shields large. Body moderate or slender, compressed ; scales 

 smooth or feebly keeled, in 15 rows, without pits ; ventrals 

 rounded; tail moderate or short, prehensile; subcaudals ill two 

 rows. 



Distribution. This genus includes eight species, inhabiting South- 

 ern China, Burma, the Eastern Himalayas, Assam, Cochinchina, 

 Siam, the Malay Peninsula, and the Malay Archipelago. They are 

 nocturnal and feed on insects. 



Synopsis of Indian and Burmese tipecies. 



A. Scales of vertebral row enlarged; a single 



shield between nasal and eye, which rests on 

 one or more labials. 



a. Frontal longer than broad ; ventrals 188- 



194 ; subcaudals 70-87 A. monticola, p. 415. 



b. Frontal as broad as long ; ventrals 150-176 ; 



subcaudals 34-46 A. lavis, p. 415. 



B. Scales of vertebral row not enlarged; loreal 



and prajocular distinct ; eye separated from 

 labials by one or more suboculars. 



a. One prseocular, one postocular, and one sub- 



ocular A. andersonii, p. 416. 



b. Two prseoculars, one postocular, and one sub- 



ocular A. modestus, p. 416. 



c. One praeocular, one postocular, and 3 or more 



suboculars A. macularius, p. 416. 



514. Amblycephalus monticola. 



Dipsas monticola, Cantor, P. Z. S. 1839, p. 53. 



Pareas monticola, Giinth. Sept. B. I. p. 327 ; Anders. P. Z. S. 1871, 

 p. 188 ; Theob. Cat. p. 203. 



Internasals not quite half as long as the prefrontals ; latter 

 entering the eye ; frontal a little longer than broad, a little shorter 

 than the parietals ; loreal entering the eye ; a small prseocular 

 below the loreal ; two postoculars; temporals 2 + 3 ; upper labials 

 7, fourth or fourth and fifth entering the eye ; three pairs of large 

 chin-shields. Scales in 15 rows, smooth ; vertebrals enlarged, hex- 

 agonal. Ventrals 188-194 ; anal entire ; subcaudals 70-87. 

 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. 



Total length 2 feet ; tail 5| inches. 



Hab. Eastern Himalayas, Khasi and Naga Hills. 



515. Amblycephalus laevis. 



Amblycephalus leevis, Boie, Isis, 1827, p. 620. 



Pareas Ia3vis, Dum. $ Bibr. Erp. Gen. vii, p. 442 ; Giinth. Kept. 



B. I. p. 328; Theob. Cat. p. 203. 

 Leptoguathus laevis, Jan, Icon. Ophid. 37, pi. vi, fig. 4. 



