88 THE SNAKES OF SOUTH AFRICA. 



A. Irregular black cross bars ; some of the scales with a whitish spot. 



B. No black spots or bars ; some of the scales with a whitish spot. 



C. With black spots, at least on the anterior part of the back. 



D. Spots and bars absent or very indistinct. 

 Average length — 3 or 4 feet. 



Distribution— Delagoa Bay ; Portuguese East Africa ; Rhodesia. 



Genus PROSYMNA. 

 Five Species in South Africa. , 



KEY TO THE SPECIES. 

 Scales smooth in 15 rows. Internasal paired; 



two superposed anterior temporals . . . . Prosymna sundevallii. 



Scales smooth in 15 rows. Internasal single ; a 



single anterior temporal. Width of the frontal 



not half the width of the head ; ventrals 167 ; 



sub-caudals 50 Prosymna frontalis. 



Scales smooth in 15 rows. Ventrals 131-153 ; 



sub-caudals 19-34 Prosymfia ambigua. 



Scales smooth in 15 rows. Width of the frontal 



more than half the width of the head ; ventrals 



169-185; sub-caudals 38-49 .. .. .. Prosymna bergeri. 



Scales keeled in 17 rows ; a single internasal . . Prosymna jani. 



1. Prosymna SUNDEVALLII. Coppery Snake ; Koperachtig Slang. 

 Synonyms — Temnorhynchus sundevallii ; Rhinostoma cupreum ; Tem- 



norhynchiis frontalis. 



Colour — Pale brown above, each scale edged with darker ; head 

 yellowish, with a more or less distinct brown band between the 

 eyes and a large dark brown crescentric blotch bordering the 

 parietals posteriorly ; two rows of small brown spots along 

 the back ; uniform whitish inferiorly. 



Average length — i foot. 



Distribution — Both provinces of Cape Colony ; Natal ; Orange Free 

 State ; Transvaal. 



2. Prosymna frontalis. Northern Coppery Snake. 

 Synonym — Temnorhynchus frontalis. 



Colour — Very similar to the former. 



Average length — i foot. 



Distribution — South- West Africa ; Angola. 



3. Prosymna ambigua. Grey-Spotted Coppery Snake. 

 Synonym — Ligonirostra stuhlmanni. 



Colour — Blackish above, each scale usually greyish in the centre ; lower 



parts whitish or brown. 

 Average length — i foot. 

 Distribution — Zululand ; South- West Africa ; Southern Rhodesia ; 



Angola ; East Africa. 



4. Prosymna bergeri. West African Coppery Snake. 

 Average length — i foot. 



Distribution — South- West Africa. 



5. Prosymna jani. Black- headed Coppery Snake. 



Colour — Pale reddish-brown above ; the greater part of the upper 

 surface of the head and nape black, leaving a pale sponton, 

 each supraocular and a cordiform one on the middle of the nape ; 

 a black cross bar on the neck, followed by a double series of black 



