5/6 MR. P. L. SCLATER ON BIRDS [May 21, 



May 21, 18/8. 

 F. D. Godman, Esq., F.Z.S., in the Chair. 

 The following papers were read : — 



1. Description of a new Genus of Snakes of the Family 

 Calamaridm, from Southern India. By Lieutenant- 

 Colonel R. H. Beddome, C.M.Z.S. 



[Received April 29, 1878.] 



Xylophis, n. gen. 



Body cylindrical, slender ; head short, not distinct from neck, 

 gradually narrowed forwards and pointed ; eye very small, with round 

 pupil ; tail about one seventh of the total length ; maxillary teeth very 

 numerous, equal ; the two palatine rows very conspicuous, and the 

 teeth slightly longer behind ; upper labials four, the first very minute, 

 the second and third enter the orbit, fourth in contact with a large 

 temporal ; rostral very small ; an elongate loreal gradually narrowed 

 behind replaces anteocular and occupies all the space from rostral to 

 eye ; nasals simple, very small ; frontals only one pair, large, a very 

 small superciliary shield and a similar postocular. Scales smooth, 

 without apical groove, in fifteen rows ; anal single ; subcaudals broad, 

 bifid, or a few occasionally entire. 



Xylophis indicus, n. sp. 



General colour of a uniform brown like an earthworm, but beauti- 

 fully iridescent; length 9g inches, of which the tail is 1| inch: 

 vertical, pointed behind, rounded in front ; occipitals elongate ; 

 ventrals about 136; subcaudals about 26, bifid, or a few of them 

 entire ; tail ending in a blunt point. 



Hab. The dense heavy evergreen forests on the mountains at the 

 south of Cumbum Valley, Madura district ; elevation 5000 feet. 

 Under old logs along with Uropeltidae. 



The specimen, which is unique, has been forwarded to the British 

 Museum. 



2. Reports on the Collections of Birds made during the 

 Voyage of H.M.S. ' Challenger/— No. X. On the 

 Birds of the Atlantic Islands and Kerguelen's Land, 

 and on the Miscellaneous Collections. By P. L. Sclater, 

 M.A., F.R.S. 



[Received May 2, 1S78.] 



In this paper, which concludes the preliminary reports on the 

 terrestrial birds collected during the voyage of the ' Challenger,' I 



