EEPTILIA. 23 



tendency to be broken into spots, and the bands along the sides of the tail are faint or 

 wanting. Otherwise there appears to be no constant difference. 



The colouration is that of the form to which Dr. Strauch has given the name of 

 Z, fedtschenJcoi, and which is mainly distinguished from the typical Z. raver gieri by the 

 tail being spotted instead of striped. Dr. Strauch adds that, as a rule, in Z. fedtschenkoi 

 the number of longitudinal rows of scales is twenty-three, twenty-one being the exception, 

 whilst the reverse is found in Z. ravergieri. He also calls attention to a slight difference 

 in the form of the head, which is rather broader and less depressed in the first-named form. 

 Z. fedtschenkoi is said to be common in Russian Turkestan. 



In the three specimens from Eastern Turkestan, the rows of scales round the body are 

 twenty-one in number, and the head is of the same form as in typical Z. ravergieri. I have 

 already ' shown that the two forms pass into each other in Persia, and the specimens from 

 Eastern Turkestan tend to the same conclusion. 



In both the specimens from Yangihissar, there are three postoculars on each side, but only 

 two, as usual, in the Yarkand example. In the latter there are 222 ventrals and ninety-one 

 pairs of subcaudals. 



' 



20. TROPIDONOTUS HTDBUS. 



1, Kashghar ; 2-15, Yangihissar, Eastern Turkestan. 



This snake is apparently as common in Eastern Turkestan as it is, according to Strauch, 2 

 farther to the westward. The specimen from Kashghar was procured on the 2nd February, and 

 is noted on the label as having been found frozen in a field ; the Yangihissar specimens were 

 collected in April. 



The majority of the snakes of this species obtained in Eastern Turkestan appear to have 

 five postoculars. They are olivaceous above, with the back spots rather indistinct as a rule, 

 and a great portion of the ventral shields is black. 



21. TROPIDONOTUS PLATYCEPS. 



1, Mari ; 2, 3, Kashm ir. 



I can see no difference between these specimens and those from other parts of the 

 Himalayas. This species, which had previously been obtained by Dr. Jerdon in Kashmir, 3 

 appears to be one of the Himalayan forms, like Compsosoma Jiodgsoni, which range farther 

 to the north-west than do most of the species characteristic of the Himalayan region. 



Family PSAMMOPHID^!. 

 22. TAPHROMETOPTJM LINEOLATTJM. 



Coluber (Tapkrometopon) lineolatum, Brandt : Bull. Ac. Sci. St. Pet., iii, p. 243 (1837) ; Peters : Proc. 

 Zool. Soc., 1861, p. 47. 



1 Eastern Persia, ii, p. 418. | 2 g c hlang. Euss. Reichs., p. 173. 



3 Stoliczka: Jour. As. Soc. Bengal, 1870, xxxk, Ft. 2, p. 192. 



