luM. ABLABES. 283 



entering the eye ; four lower labial* in contact with the anterior 

 chin-shields, which equal <>r :i little exceed the posterior, in length. 

 Scales in l."> rows. Yentrala 178-1 !).">; anal divided; subcaudals 

 ."". Hrown al)ove, with a broad dark collar and a double series 

 of transverse dark spots on the anterior part of the body ; these 

 markings most distinct in the young ; lower p:irts uniform 

 Yellowish. 



il length 460 millim. ; tail 110. 

 Himalayas from Simla to Darjeeling. 



a. d (V. 185 ; C. 63). Sikkiin. Messrs. v. Schlagintweit 



[C.]. (Type.) 



b. Yg. (V. 184; C. GO). Sikkiin. M.-sre. v. Schlagintweit 



[C.]. (TypeoL4.<ra*>mY.) 



e-4. c? (V. 189; C. 74) & Darjeeling. W. T. Blauford, Esq. [P.]. 



hgr. (V. 178 ; C. (58). 



c. rf (V. 180; C. 71). Parjeeling. T. C. Jerdon, Esq. [P.]. 

 /. rf (V. 182 ; C. 6U) & Darjeeling. 



hjrr. (V. 184; C. 75). 

 <f. 2 (V. 195 ; C. ?). Nepal. B. II. Hodgson, Esq. [P.]. 



0. Ablabes baliodirus. 



Coronella baliodeira, Buif, Isis, 1827, p. 5.39 ; Schleg. Pkt/s. Serp. ii. 



p. t'4. pi. ii. tigs. 9 & 10 (18.'57) ; Cantor, Cat. Mai. Kept. p. 60 



(1847). 

 Ablabes baliodeirus, Dum. $ Bibr. vii. p. 313 (1854) ; Gtinth. Cat. 



p. l>i> (1S5S), and l!<'j>f. llrit. Lid. p. 224 (1804). 

 Diadophis baliodeirns, Jan, Arch. Zool. Anat. Phys. ii. 1863, p. 203, 



and Icon. Gen. 15, pi. v. fig. 4 (1866). 

 Ablabes baliodirus, var. cinctus, Fischer, Abh. naturw. Ver. Hatub. 



be. 1886, p. ?S pi. i. tig. >. 



Rostral broader than deep, just visible from above ; nasal divided ; 

 eye three fourths the length of the snout; suture between the 

 internasals shorter than that between the pnefrontals ; frontal 

 longer than its distance from the end of the snout, shorter than the 

 parietals ; a small loreal, as long as deep or deeper than long ; one 

 or two prae- and two postoculars ; temporals 1+2; seven upper 

 labials, third and fourth entering the eye ; four or five lower labials 

 in contact with the anterior chin-shields, which are as long as or 

 shorter than the posterior. Scales in 13 rows. Ventrals 118-137 ; 

 anal divided ; subcaudals 58-75. Brown above, usually with small 

 black-edged yellow spots, sometimes with blackish cross bands or 

 two series of large alternating black blotches on the anterior part 

 of the body, or with two light, dark- edged streaks along the body 

 and a third on the nape ; head sometimes yellowish ; lips yellowish 

 white, with the labial sutures black ; lower parts yellowish or coral- 

 n-.l, th brown of the upper parts usually descending to the sides of 

 the ventrals, each of which may bear a black dot at the end; some- 

 times ii M.-tek line aloni; the middle of the lower surface of the tail. 



Total length 400 millim.; tail llVi. 



Java, Horueu, Sumatra. I'mang. 



