178 Zoological Society : — 



pointed behind ; caudal disk very large and well-defined ; scales very 

 strongly 2 -3- keeled ; terminal scale large, slightly bicuspid. Scales 

 of the body in 17 rows, on the neck in 19. Eye very large. Total 

 length 9 inches. Colour blackish, with large dull yellowish white 

 mottlings (the two colours nearly equally divided) ; tail beneath 

 black, with a yellowish band on each side. Abdominals 134 ; sub- 

 caudals 10. 



Shevaroy Hills (4500 feet elevation). Forwarded to me by Dr. 

 Short. 



2. SiLYBURA OCELLATA. 



Rostral pointed and much produced ; nasal scutella meeting be- 

 hind the rostral, and separating it from the frontals ; eye very small, 

 obscure, in front of ocular shield ; other shields and labials as in the 

 genus; scales round the neck in 18 rows, round the trunk in 17 ; 

 caudal disk not very clearly defined ; scales 2-5-keeled ; terminal 

 shield entire, or slightly 2-3-pronged ; abdominals 199 ; subcaudals 

 8 or 10 pairs, some generally entire. Total length 14^ inches. 

 Colour of the body of the male yellowish, becoming gradually brown 

 near the head and tail, of the female dull brownish, of the young 

 dark purplish brown ; all banded with transverse rows of four or five 

 black-edged white or yellow spots (like eyes), generally rather irre- 

 gularly placed. Sides of the belly with transverse, very irregular- 

 shaped, yellow or white blotches, rarely meeting over the abdominals, 

 and forming a transverse band. 



Walaghat, on the western slopes of the Nilgherries, at an eleva- 

 tion of 3500 feet, in the dense moist forests. I procured three 

 specimens — male, female, and young. 



3. SiiiYBURA BREVis, Giiuthcr. 



The specimen differs from the one described by Dr. Giinther in 

 having sixteen rows of scales instead of seventeen, and in the ter- 

 minal scale of the tail being entire and not bicuspid. 



I procured this specimen on the Nilgherries ; the one described 

 by Dr. Giinther was found on the Anamallays. 



4. SlI.YBURA NILGHERRIENSIS. 



Scales in 1 7 rows ; anal large, bifid ; subcaudals 9 ; snout obtuse : 

 rostral far produced back between the nasals ; nasals just meeting 

 behind the rostral ; vertical 6-sided, pointed in front and behind ; 

 eye rather large, in front of ocular shield ; caudal disk well defined : 

 scales very prominently 2-3-keeled ; terminal scale ending in two 

 points. Colour of the body of an indigo-hue, with small dull yellow 

 blotches; belly dull yellowish. Length 17 inches; circumference 

 3 inches. 



Ootacamund, Nilgherries, 7000 feet elevation. 



This is by far the largest Earth- snake we have in Southern India. 



It is possible that S. brevis may be the young of this species : they 

 are, however, found at different elevations ; and without intermediate 

 forms I cannot venture to unite them, that being the smallest Earth- 

 snake in our presidency, and this the largest. There is, however. 



