536 



ELEGANT SNAKE. 



Coluber Elriinns. C. griseo-jlaie&cen*, fasciis tribus latis reti- 



culatis nigricantibus, fascia abduminali latiwinui, capite fusco 



irroruto. 

 Yellowish-grey Snake, with three broad reticulated blackish 



bands, a very broad abdominal band, and head freckled 



with brown. 



Srrpens catenata ex Nova Ilispania. Seb. 2. t. 60.f. 1. 

 Abdominal scuta 202, subcaudal scales 146". 



HABIT long and slender: length about two 

 feet : head long, obtuse, large scaled, and of a 

 grey colour, freckled with innumerable dusky 

 points : on the back a broad, rich chain or stripe 

 formed by four or five reticulated black lines on 

 a blueish or glaucous ground : on each side the 

 body a similar stripe, but narrower, and consist- 

 ing only of two black lines : the colour of the 

 body between the stripes is yellowish grey ; and 

 between the stripes and abdomen yellowish white: 

 the abdomen itself is marked by a very broad reti- 

 culated and punctated stripe of a greyish colour 

 with dusky variegations : the tail is very long and 

 narrow. This snake is well figured in Seba, who 

 represents it as a native of South America. In 

 the British Museum are specimens preserved in 

 spirits : in the living animal the colours are pro- 

 bably much more brilliant than in the above de- 

 scription. 



