DIONE SNAKE. 541 



length : colour above pale ferruginous marked by 

 three narrow white lines, of which that on the 

 back is continued to the top of the snout, where it 

 divides into two streaks : abdomen whitish varie- 

 gated with transverse black bars : head rather 

 large, and, so far as appears from Seba's figure, 

 covered with small scales : native of Guinea. 



DIONE SNAKE. 



Coluber Dione. C. ccerukscens, fusco macnlatus, lineis tribus 



albidis. 



Pale blue Snake, spotted with brown, with three whitish lines. 

 Coluber Dione. Lin. Syst. Nat. Gmel. p. 1 106. Pall. it. 2. 



p. 717. 

 Abdominal scuta IpO, subcaudal scales 66. 



HABIT slender: length about two feet: head 

 small, tetragonal, and commonly reticulated with 

 blackish sutures : colour of the whole upper parts 

 pale blue, with three paler or whitish lines, the in- 

 termediate spaces being marked with a row of 

 dusky alternate, and sometimes subcon fluent spots 

 or patches : abdomen pale, freckled with minute 

 livid spots interspersed with red specks : tail about 

 a sixth part of the whole length. This species is 

 a native of the salt deserts towards the Caspian 

 sea, and of the hilly regions near the river Irtin, 

 and was first described by Dr. Pallas. 



